Royalty Demands
by Aihara-Yuki
Summary: On hiatus, sorry for the inconvenience... Based on Goong, partly. See how the Crown Princess Mikan and the Crown Prince Natsume maintain ther relationship in this complicated background. NxM, RxH...
1. Chapter 1

Yuki: My grammar isn't that promising, and lacks a lot of description in the story… Bear with it, all right? Please review after reading, thanks.

**Chapter 1: The Prince as the New Student.**

"Hey, Mikan!" Anna called from the field after playing soccer with her team mates. "Come here for a while." She waved to a certain brunette, walking down from the office. Mikan steered her eyes from the ground and saw her friend waving at her.

Running towards her, Mikan said, "Yeah, Anna? What's up?"

Anna wrapped her right arm on her shoulder. "Have you heard about the Prince?"

Mikan thought for a while. "Huh? Which prince? I'm sure there are two of them…"

"Jeez, of course Prince Natsume!" Anna added. "I've got this news about him going to the same school here!! Isn't this great!? The talented, cute and charming prince Natsume!"

Mikan sweat dropped. She disliked Prince Natsume, especially his arrogant attitude. He often hurt people's feelings instead of caring for his citizens. Prince Ruka is different compared to Prince Natsume. She preferred Prince Ruka because he is loveable and does not create any problems around him. The thing is, Prince Natsume will be the next throne to be the Emperor of Japan when he turns 20. Now, he's only a 16. Ruka Nougi and Natsume Hyuuga owned different surnames, because Ruka's father passed away 10 years ago and uses his mother's maiden name. And for 10 years, Natsume-ouji has become the Crown Prince after replacing Ruka-ouji.

"What's so great about him? Yeah, he may be good looking, but he has a rotten character!" Mikan Sakura said aloud. Anna knew that her friend disliked him a lot. "I wonder what makes him so special for you, Anna!"

"Like I said last time, Mi-chan! Everybody has different tastes. I'm sure Nonoko would agree with me!" Anna said with her eyes glittering.

Mikan stopped walking and faced her, "Weird, aren't royalties supposed to attend to this special academy which consists only royal members? Why pick the government high school for?"

"Maybe he loves his citizens so much until he had to come here!" Anna said happily.

"You really liked him, huh?" Mikan asked in confusion. "By the way…" She turned her head to the left and right. "I want to have a dinner with you guys later… Where are Hotaru and Nonoko?"

Anna pointed to a building labelled '3'. "They're inside the laboratory, working on something. I'll inform them, all right? You're going home now, right?"

Mikan nodded silently and waved good bye to Anna, "See you tonight at my place!"

X

Back in the palace, Natsume was lingering around the foyer, waiting for the confirmation of the pleading on going to the government school. An elderly man appeared with a white paper and bowed to him while handing him the object he was carrying. Natsume snatched from him and read thoroughly.

"It took me a week to get this confirmation?!" Natsume said in a relieved tone. "The government's so stupid…"

The man named Hoshi bowed, "Prince Natsume, it's not good to say about the government…"

"I speak whatever whenever I want to." He frowned and walked back to his quarters with several bodyguards. "I want to be alone!" The scared bodyguards stood frigid and swept away as soon as possible. Natsume flashed back the conversation he had with his mom last week. It was dreadful.

**Flashback…**

"_What are you saying, mother?!" Natsume said as he slammed on the table hard, making the teapot to fall down from the place. A maid came and wiped the floor. "I'm not going to get married with this stranger!!"_

_The elderly woman who gently sipped her tea eyed on him, "As you can see, your late grandfather made a promise to his best friend who happened to help him a lot during his times. Your gramps owed a great deal of help from him. So, in order to repay his kindness, he agreed to make an engagement with their grandchildren."_

_Natsume furrowed his brow and glared at his mother, "I'm only sixteen, mother."_

"_It's the rules… You are to get engaged when you're 16." His mother said carefully. "Your secretary assistant will tell you about the rest later. You may leave now. I have other things to take care of."_

**End of Flashback…**

"That gramps, why did he do this to me!?" He messed his hair and stormed to his room. A man stood there, it was his secretary assistant. "What do you want now?"

The man bowed and greeted, "Crown Prince Natsume, I'm sorry. I did not see you just now at the Queen's quarters, so I thought you might be here…"

Natsume folded his arms and leaned against the door. "I repeat, what do you want?"

"I was sent to give you the school uniforms in Seijyuu High and the text books. Everything's inside your wardrobe. If there's anything else missing, please don't hesitate to ask… I will excuse myself…"

He grabbed him by his shoulder when the assistant was about to leave. "Wait. I want to ask about my future wife…"

He turned his head and bowed again. "Yes, what would you like to know about her?"

"… Never mind. I'll ask later. I need a sleep now…" He released his grip and closed the door. "Stupid grandfather…"

X

Inside the Emperor's quarters, the King and Queen were having a talk about their future in laws.

"Do you think what your late father did was the right thing, dear?" The Queen asked worriedly. "What if she's not capable enough to fit as the Empress?"

The king took out a ring from a box and looked at it. "If it was dad who chose to do this, I'm sure that it'll be just fine…" He sat on the chair and sighed, "I've called dad's best friend through the phone yesterday. I asked him whether he has told his grand daughter about this. It sounds as if he has not done it yet."

"He hasn't? Have you told him about that the engagement?"

"Yes, he said he will tell his grand daughter, as soon as possible." The King said. "Late dad gave the other engagement ring to his friend with a letter telling him about the plan."

X

The next day at school, everybody was crowding at an area. Mikan was walking in the school yard, looked around to see what was happening. She was grabbed by the neck by Nonoko and Anna. "N-N-Nonoko… A-Anna…" She was choking slowly.

Anna immediately let her off. "S-sorry!! I didn't mean to do that!!" She shook the half-dead Mikan. "Mikan!!"

"N-no, never mind…" She massaged her neck. Her head popped in the crowd. "Jeez, why are these girls screaming at??"

Nonoko smacked her head. "You didn't know?! The Crown Prince is here!!"

Mikan had a vein popped from her head. "All these girls are actually his fan girls?!"

Anna and Nonoko nodded, simultaneously. "Practically the whole school girls are his fan girls. Only you and Hotaru are excluded."

The tangerine girl smirked, "So, it means we're unique!"

"But, Hotaru's here to take some photos of him to sell. She's really desperate…" Nonoko said. "But I'm going to purchase some!!"

Mikan frowned and walked away, leaving the crowd. "These entire ruckus just for a stupid arrogant prince. How unruly!"

Back inside the limousine, the Crown Prince snuck in a place secretly, leaving the car crammed with fan girls. He ran towards the forest heading towards the building '1'. He heard a girl getting angry about something and he accidentally eavesdropped.

"That idiotic prince, what does he think he was? A superstar?! Getting the centre of attention among those girls makes me sick. The girls are stupid too. Why would they stalk him for?!" Mikan mumbled, clearly. "I heard he was ignoring the crowd waving at him during the New Year Parade. What a nerve!!"

Natsume was pretty much shocked that a girl around his age was able to talk bad about the Crown Prince so openly. He smirked and walked directly towards her. "Brave for a girl like you to criticise me…"

Mikan stopped from walking further. She heard this voice before, but it was from the television broadcasting from the palace. She slowly lifted her head and was startled. The Crown Prince was standing right in front of her. "That jerk N-N-Natsume!!" She pointed rudely at him.

"A jerk? Me?" He cupped his chin and furrowed, "You could get jailed, you know."

"N-no way! I was only talking! There's no proof that you heard me! Everybody wouldn't believe--"

"They always believe and listen to what the Crown Prince says, woman." He cuts in. "A normal girl like yourself could not do anything at all to convince others when you're dealing with a royalty."

Mikan paused to digest what he had said. It was true; he is the hope of the country. And bad things he had done will be erased immediately to protect the good name of the royalties. "D-do whatever you want! I don't care already! I can't imagine the hardship of your wife after you get married!" She wounded up his anger.

His anger doubled when he heard the word 'wife' and 'marriage'. _Those words… I hate it these days… Hate it!_ "You, idiot! I'll be fine as long as an idiot like you don't marry me!" He pointed at her and left the place.

The words were ringing in her head. She had just picked a fight with a royalty. Not an ordinary one but, the future Emperor! She dropped to her knees and widened her eyes. "S-shoot… I'm in a deep trouble…"

X

After school, Natsume got in the limousine after getting used to the school. He was in the class 2-A. As he was leaning on the seat, his secretary assistant said something to him. "Crown Prince Natsume, I need your attention about your future wife…"

His eyes flicked open and stared at him. "What about her?"

"For your information, she was studying here as well…" The man said. "As you can see, Prince Ruka was arranged to be the one to marry her, since he is the son of the late Ryoki, your father's elder brother. But since he passed away, you're taking his place to marry her."

Natsume heaved a sigh and nodded. "And then?"

"Would you like to see the picture of your future wife?" He asked. "She's really beautiful. I'm sure that you'll like her." Natsume accepted the picture. He lazily looked at it and within seconds, he widened his eyes. The brunette wearing a blouse top and cheery looking was the same girl he had met earlier. "Her name's Mikan Sakura."

X

"Jii-chan…" Mikan complained, "What is so important? We're celebrating mom and dad's wedding anniversary, you know…" She tried to please him, but failed. Everybody gathered in the living room with tensed atmosphere. She gazed at her family members with confusion.

"Mikan Sakura!" the old man said, sternly. "I have something to say, but you got to accept it. You can't refuse this."

Mikan stared at him and then to her worried father, Narumi. Her mom, Azumi Yuka was meddling with her fingers. "Jeez, what is it so depressing about? You guys looked to sad!!"

Her grandfather said, "You are to marry the Crown Prince."

Everybody silenced for a minute. Mikan was the one who broke the ice. "Wahahaha… Jii-chan, it's too early to celebrate April's Fool! That was a good joke, everybody looked so serious!!"

Narumi said, with a concerned look. "You saw the engagement ring before, right? It was from the late King…"

"WHAT!!?" Mikan shouted out, after remembering about the ring when she was 6 years old. The late king came into their house and handed the ring to her grandfather. "I DON'T WANT TO ACCEPT THIS ENGAGEMENT!!!"

Her grandfather was surprised to receive this response from her. It was worse than he thought it would be. "You can't do that. Only the Crown Prince Natsume could reject."

She grabbed both of her pig tails and shouted, "All those things I said about him, right in front of him!! Ah! Of course he wouldn't accept me, gramps!! Call them!!"

Her grandfather cleared his throat. "I just received the call from the King himself about this evening. He said that the Crown Prince saw your picture and then laughed for a second. He said he'd accept this marriage proposal."

Everybody in the house sat in rigid. Mikan blinked thrice and wailed, "**N-no way!!!!!!**"


	2. Chapter 2

Yuki: This is the continuous chappie. Enjoy… no flames, please. I'm quite new…

**Chapter 2: The Agreement.**

The next day, Mikan looked as if a ghost has raided her house last night. Her face was pale and sometimes talks to herself in her shoes locker. Kitsuneme, her guy friend noticed that something was wrong with her, so he took a step towards her and asked.

"Mikan…" He patted her shoulder. "What is wrong with you?" Anna came up to Mikan and joined the conversation. "What happened yesterday? Your dad saw your mathematics scores?"

She shook her head. "No, it's not that. Never mind, sooner or later, you guys will found out…" Mikan stood up and walked out of the room, heading to the field. She decided to take a breath there, and sat on a bench.

X

Natsume skipped school today. He went to the river and dipped his feet in it. Minutes later, someone approached behind him. Natsume turned and saw Ruka smiling at him. "Oi… Ruka."

"Hey there…" He smiled and joined Natsume. "How are you doing? It has been years..."

"Hm, yeah." Natsume placed his hands behind his head. "I heard that you'll be staying here permanently. Sick of France and Italy?"

"You got it…" Ruka smiled. "In fact, I'll be studying in the same school as yours. It'll be easy, don't you think?" Natsume gave a slight nod. "I heard you're getting married soon."

The raven haired boy winced. "The news spread quite fast… Yeah, I am."

"Unusual for a guy like yourself to accept this proposal, Natsume." Ruka added. "Is she pretty or something?"

Natsume took out a crumpled picture and handed it to him. "This's her picture…"

Ruka sweat dropped. "W-why is it crumpled…?" He reopened the picture and stared. Ruka blushed immediately.

He realised that Ruka was blushing, so, he said. "Oh, you're red now, Ruka."

Ruka complimented, "She's cute…" Natsume enlarged his eyes, because he was shocked that Ruka had just said some girl 'cute'.

"She's an idiot, that's for sure." Natsume gritted his teeth. "She actually talked bad in front of me, you know."

"I guess that makes her more unique?" Ruka asked questionably. "Which class is she in?"

"I think… 2-B."

"Eh?!" Ruka said aloud.

Natsume turned to him and pointed, "Don't tell me… are you…" Ruka nodded. "Right…"

Ruka stood up and pulled Natsume's arm. "Get up, let's go to school."

"Why should I do that?!" Natsume said angrily.

"Come on, Natsume. It'll be great to see your wife there, isn't it?" Ruka smiled.

Natsume slowly stood up and got in the car, not bothering to wear any school uniform. "I tell you, it's only for an hour. And I'm going there not because of her, get it?!"

"All right!" Ruka said. "I need to meet the headmaster first, so, you'll wait for me at the field, okay?"

"Sure, sure…" Natsume said annoyingly.

It took them about 5 minutes to reach the school. Ruka went upstairs with his secretary and Natsume walked around the field. He wanted to pick a spot to sit down, but a bench was occupied with a sleeping girl. He immediately recognised that it was Mikan because of her auburn pig tailed hair. He walked towards her and found her sleeping with dried tears. He pinched her cheeks.

"HEY!!" She immediately shouted out, "Don't pinch my cheeks when I was-- You!! That idiotic jerk!!" Mikan straightened herself. "Why did you accept that engagement?! Why don't you marry someone you liked?! Not some stranger you met in the forest!!"

Natsume folded his arms. "Are you dumb?"

"Huh?"

"I'm not going to let someone I liked to live in the palace like a doll, idiot." Natsume said.

"T-then what about me?!" Mikan raised her voice.

"I don't care about you, so I'll just let you to become a doll in the palace."

Mikan was startled with his reply. It hurts her feelings a lot. Every word he said stabbed her heart. "Y-you idiot… callous…"

He saw Ruka waving at him, signalling to leave the school. "Anyhow, you're the future Empress. Your skills must be upgraded to be my wife… I repeat, I'm accepting this because I had no other choice." He left after tucking in his hands inside the pocket.

"I… swear…" Mikan said to herself. "He's going to get it from me…"

Between Ruka and Natsume in the limousine, the blonde was worried about the conversation between Natsume and her. "Hey…" Ruka asked. "What did you talked to her? She sounded super angry about it…"

"I told you, she's that type of a girl. Noisy, over-reactively cheerful and stupid." Natsume said.

Ruka sweat dropped. "Ah… all right…"

Mikan walked upstairs to get back into the class after skipping a lesson. She heard noises coming from the class. When she opened the sliding door, all the girls were blushing non-stop and were excited. "J-just what on earth happened?"

Hotaru just came back from the laboratory said, "Prince Ruka came with the Crown Prince Natsume just now. Ruka-ouji wanted to attend the same school as well. I heard that he's in the same class with us…"

Mikan felt relieved that Natsume was not attending the same class as her. "Oh… I see. Why did Prince Ruka left Japan to overseas? Why can't he stay here like Natsume did?"

Everybody was shocked that Mikan does not know about the royalty's gossip. Kitsuneme shook his head and said, "Prince Ruka's father was the eldest son of the late king. He was supposed to inherit the throne but, his father passed away. So, it's Natsume's turn to take over the throne, because he was the second-in-line. But, Ruka and his mother was kicked out due to the late king's death."

Mikan looked stunned with the news. She didn't expect it to be that mean. "Oh… I heard that he's a nice guy, right? I think it'll be great to make friends with him."

Hotaru gave a nod. "And more profits…" She shone her camera and smiled awkwardly. Everybody took a step away from Imai.

X

_I am from a poor family. Mom worked as a clerk meanwhile my dad worked in a small company. It's hard to survive in Japan with this kind of job… I accepted the engagement… I'm going to marry… him, due to these circumstances. For the future of my family, I had to. This terrace house is too small for all of us to live in. _

Yuka said, "Mikan… you heard what the secretary assistant of Prince Natsume said this evening, right?"

She lowered her head. "Yeah… I'll be leaving to the palace tomorrow… and to stay there for a month for Empress training."

Narumi stopped eating and cupped her right cheek. "I'm sorry that… these things happened to you. But, we'll be having a big time if we don't follow."

Yuka only looked at her right to see Mikan lining in tears. "Oh yeah… you're skipping school for a month too, right? A tutor will be hired for you. I read the papers yesterday. It seems like every citizen in Japan already knew about this engagement… Don't worry, Mi-chan. I'll try to e-mail you everyday, all right?"

Mikan wiped her eyes and nodded while smiling. "I'll reply your message!" Her grandfather had no appetite on eating at that time. Seeing his sixteen year old grand daughter leaving the house so early makes him… sad.

X

"Good morning, Sakura-sama…" The maids said while bowing down to her. "From now on, this will be the quarter for the Crown Princess…" Mikan arrived to the palace with her escorts. The palace was huge enough for two or three families to stay in. She was impressed with the architecture of the palace.

Mikan felt uneasy with the word 'Crown Princess'. It sounds weird. "Uh… yes. I… am… em… grateful." The maids exited the area and left her. The interior was half modern and half traditional. It balances well. All the furniture in this room must have been really costly. She remembered when her mom was struggling to buy cheap ones. She rested on her bed and laid on it. "Mom… dad…" She wiped her eyes. "Gramps… I missed you even though I've been here for an hour…"

A knock was heard. Before she could reply, the raven haired boy entered the room with a blonde. She sat up straight and looked at them, shockingly. "Crying, huh? Being a Crown Princess must've been really painful to you?" Ruka elbowed him slightly, warning him with his words.

She dried her eyes with her sleeves. "I… I didn't allow you to come in!"

"Whatever I do, I'm still your future husband. I could do anything I wanted to." Natsume folded his arms. "This is Ruka Nougi, another prince. You haven't met him yesterday at school."

Ruka advanced towards her, "Hi, I'm Ruka Nougi. Call me Ruka, all right?" He handed his hand to her. "Are you feeling all right? You looked so sad…"

She stared at his face for a while. _It's true; he is the kind-hearted type and cares about people. His eyes are calm and innocent._ She accepted the hand and said, "I'm Mikan Sakura. Just call me Mikan…" She smiled so sweetly, that he blushed red. "And yes, I'm fine. Thanks!"

Natsume realised that he was reddening, "Ruka, the Empress is calling you. You better be going now." The blonde nodded and left the room. He sat on a chair and said, "You seemed to be sad, even though you've stayed here only for an hour. But, I can promise you one thing for your freedom after we get married..."

"W-what is it?"

"A divorce." He said slowly. Mikan widened her eyes and gaped at him. "After the divorce, you could go back to your house freely. I will obtain the title of the Emperor and I could do anything I want, right? So, in order to do that, we'll have to co-operate about a year or two."

She could not believe that this was happening to her. They are not married yet, and now… He was talking about divorcing her. _W-what's wrong with this jerk?! Is he trying to make me suffer?! _

"Are you listening to me?" Natsume said. She looked away and started to cry. "Oi! You're the one missing your family, right? I'm doing the right thing!"

"Fine, whatever!!" Mikan exploded. "I need peace right now! Leave my section, now!" She was so angry that he brought up the topic on the day where she stepped her foot here, in the palace.

He stood up. "Oh, so now you call this as your section? How arrogant… My parents need to talk with us." He grabbed her thin wrist, forcing her to stand up. "Come…" He pulled her to another room, it was a bathroom. "Wash your face…"

She walked slowly towards the sink and splashed the water on her face. He handed her a facial towel, and she accepted it. "… Natsume…?"

He felt awkward because it's the first time that he was called by his name from a girl… who happened to be his bride soon. "What?"

"N-no, I'm trying to get used with calling your name…" She smiled wryly. "I've never called a guy by his name before…"

"Stop doing stupid things, idiot…" He blushed and grabbed her hands. "They're waiting for us!"

"Hm…" Mikan started to smile. _Weird… he looked angry but he sounds kind. What's his true character?_

X

"Ruka…" A blonde woman called from his back. Ruka just came out from the Queen' section.

He turned back, smiling. "Mom! You're back! How was the business trip?"

She hugged her son, "Yeah, I'm doing fine…" Her name is Serina. (Her hair is shoulder length and wavy, unlike in the anime. Take note, she looked much more beautiful than the Queen.) "Did you meet Natsume?"

Ruka nodded, "Yeah, he's doing well...I guess."

"Oh, really?" Serina's eyes shone. "Come, let's go."

"Yes, mom." Ruka followed his mother to another section.


	3. Chapter 3

Yuki: Sorry, but I've just entered the wrong chapter previously!! This is the correct one. Gomen!

**Chapter 3: The Wedding Ceremony.**

The maid who waited outside bowed to Natsume and Mikan. She faced to the door and said, "The Crown Prince Natsume and his bride is here, my Lord…" Mikan flinched when she heard that she was being called a bride at this age.

A reply of 'Let them in…' was heard from the door. The maid opened the sliding door and allowed them to enter. Natsume pulled her hand inside the room. Mikan was too shocked that she was facing the Emperor of Japan. And to think that he will be her father-in-law makes her feel butterflies in the stomach. The Emperor was outstandingly handsome, for a 45 years old man. His wife, on his left was staring at Mikan with suspicious eyes. She hid behind Natsume to avoid the contact. The king's name is Matsuda Hyuuga meanwhile the Queen's name is Karin Hyuuga.

Natsume whispered, "Idiot, you're supposed to give them a respect, not to hide!"

Mikan replied with a whisper, "B-but your mother… she was giving me a glare…"

The Emperor laughed, "I'm sorry, my wife has been curious on how you look like. Seems that you're quite a beautiful lady, am I right?" He faced to his wife, who only gave a slight nod. Mikan stood in front of Natsume and bowed to them. "Ah, stand up. It's no need to be so polite with us. Come, sit down for a while." He showed them to a sofa. "Say, how do you feel when you stepped in the palace? Does it feel odd?"

Mikan was nodding, "Uh… yeah. I-it was… odd to be here…"

The Queen said, "I hope you could cope up with the training. As far as I knew, many princesses suffered a lot. For an example, Princess Diana. You wouldn't want to end up like her, don't you?"

She looked down and replied, "Yeah, I don't want to…"

The King said, "Prince Natsume, escort her back to the Crown Princess's quarters. She seemed tired… I guess I'll ask her later." Natsume stood up and bowed. He told Mikan to stand up and brought her outside. "My dear queen, what were you thinking looking at our daughter-in-law like that?"

"She seemed so vulnerable. I couldn't imagine a girl like her to become the Queen very soon…" She said, worriedly.

"I'm sure that Natsume-ouji could help her…" He replied. "You were exactly like Mikan-hime, when it was the first time I met you. You were vulnerable too…"

She blushed, "At least I don't hide behind someone's back…"

X

"Jeez, you looked like you've seen a ghost or something like that!" Natsume said while grabbing her hand, walking to the Zen Garden.

Mikan added, "Of course I am! T-they're the King and Queen, for God's sake! I was standing right before them!!"

"Right, you were scared. After all, you're the commoner…" Natsume said ruefully.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm the commoner!!" Mikan replied. "But…" She said while pulling a stop on the bridge and stared at him in the eye. "Even your own father called you 'Prince'? I… didn't know that…"

"It has been always like that, idiot." He released her and looked down at the koi pond. "It's a must for us not to call our parents 'mom' or 'dad'. I really wonder how it feels to call her mom…"

"Natsume…" She relaxed her eyes at his expression.

"Ah, jeez! I'll need to go out after sending you. Come." Natsume said as he walked forward.

Mikan catches him up. "Um, all right…" _He was depressed about that problem a while ago. He's different than what I thought he was._ About a minute or two, they arrived in the quarters.

"Hey…" He turned his head back. "After your 1 month of tutorials, we'll get married, you know."

Mikan widened her eyes. She could not believe her ears. "W-within a month?! A-are you crazy or what?!!"

He shrugged. "I only listen to what the Emperor has to say."

She dropped to her knees. "I… I thought it would be held about 6 months later?! We've just engaged yesterday!! I barely even know you! I didn't even know your blood type!!"

"I tell you, this country's desperate on having the new Queen, you know. There's no need to know about something that childish!" He said. "Lady Otonashi will become your sensei in teaching the rules of the palace and what it takes to become a Queen. So, you better take this lesson pretty seriously. I don't want to get teased about having a lame wife back at school. Ja ne." He waved and left the place.

She flushed frantically and placed her hands on the ground. The maids were worried about her. "D-darn it, within a month! It'll be like a flash of the light! Oh, jeez!!"

A grey coloured hair woman in her twenties looked at her on the floor. She looked beautiful with her butterfly earrings. She appeared with a cane on her right hand. "Crown Princess Mikan Sakura, am I right?"

The girl looked up to her and panicked. She stood up and dusted her skirt. "Y-yes! I am!"

"Good. I am Otonashi Hyuuga. I'm a cousin of Natsume Hyuuga and the disciplined tutor of the royalty family. I am here to teach you about the basic lessons on becoming a Queen. Nice to meet you." She bowed 90 degrees towards her.

"N-no, don't bow to me!! Y-you're older than me!!" Mikan grabbed both of Otonashi's shoulders and told her to stand up. "Yeah, nice meeting you too. I hope I could understand your teachings properly!"

Otonashi smiled, "You have a good character, by the first glance." Mikan looked at her confusedly. "But I'm afraid I'll be strict with you. See this?" She held up a cane. "I was given orders by the Queen to hit you if you did anything amiss. So…"

"H-hit me with that?!" Mikan pointed to the cane. "T-the Queen told you so?!"

She nodded. "Yeah, you can say that. Now, let's get started!"

X

The whole street in Shibuya was blocked due to the parade of the newlyweds in the royalty family. That's right, it's Mikan and Natsume's wedding day. Of course there were jealous girls but there are more supporting citizens. They wore kimono and was going smooth on the procedure of the wedding ceremony back at the palace. The couples are inside the Crown Princess's room, having their last step of the wedding day-- The Dinner.

The maid said while pouring the cup of tea, "You two are supposed to sleep but since there's an age limit, I guess that will have to wait later." Mikan sweat dropped and was relieved about that news. She was particularly worried that it might occur to her. The maid left them inside the room.

Mikan started to eat slowly, as Natsume watches her carefully. "What Ruka said to you worked, huh?"

She paused and looked at him. "What did you say?"

"Ruka-- he came to visit you everyday, right?" Natsume asked. She nodded. _What was he thinking? I could understand that she's his ex-fiancée but…_

"He was a sweet guy…" She said. "I felt a little bit better after eating the snacks he gave me, haha…"

_Snacks? In the palace? _Natsume stopped eating after finishing a bowl of rice. "I heard that you are in need of going for a visit back home… am I right?"

Mikan paused and looked at him with teary eyes. _Mom, dad, gramps… everybody… _"I… I…"

"I'll give you a chance to visit them if you behaved well." Natsume said as he stretched his arms.

She moved forward to him. "W-wait!! I'm already a good girl now!!"

"Right…" Natsume said in sarcasm. "I'll see your progress… Then I'll do whatever it takes to bring you home for a while. I hate receiving news from the maids saying you're homesick and all. It's a headache."

She smiled for the first time in several weeks. The smile actually makes him… slightly… happy? "Thanks, Natsume. Even though you looked so cold, but you're really kind…"

"I don't need those compliments from you." Natsume snapped. "I'm doing this because it's a burden…" Mikan giggled and continued eating.

X

"S-Serina…" Matsuda, the King said in a surprise after opening the window. "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

The beautiful lady looked up and gave a bow. "I'm sorry to disturb your peace, my Highness. But, I really need to talk to you."

Matsuda paused and nodded. "It has been… quite a while, hasn't it? How were you doing…?"

"I'm doing fine… except for one thing."

"What is it?"

"Regretful-ness." She moved her eyes to his. "Regretting for choosing your brother, due to my--"

"Stop… It's not your fault that you chose him. It was my silly mind bugging me."

Serina looked away. "My life changed after he passed away. I don't… think it's possible if I could get in the palace back. I really wished I could, though."

The handsome man gripped his hands tightly. "Serina, I'm sorry about the past…"

"No, these happenings occurred because I did a mistake. I deserved it… And I'm sorry for Karin."

"No matter how many times I said to her, she wouldn't listen to me." Matsuda said.

"I could understand that…" Serina said. From a far place, Karin was watching them. She gripped her fist and cried.

X

"E-eeh!?" Mikan whined in surprise. "To your grandmother's quarters?"

Natsume nodded. "She wants to have a look at her grand daughter-in-law." He eyed on her clothes. "Go change your clothes. I'll wait outside. My grandmother wants me to take you there." She nodded and went inside the bathroom after closing the door. While he was waiting for her, he remembered what Ruka said to him yesterday after their wedding.

**Flash back…**

"_What do you mean, she cried?" Natsume asked._

_Ruka folded his arms, "I simply have no idea! I just heard her crying when I passed by the Princess's quarters after your wedding. I was taking a walk around and I heard it."_

"_Whatever it is, I didn't make her cry, got it?"_

"_Of course… But, it's really weird, right?" Ruka asked, "It seems that she was moody all because of her family."_

"_A bride missing her family is a norm in the palace, Ruka. You knew that."_

_The blonde lay against the tree bark. "Tomorrow, you and your wife need to meet granny. She personally asked me to inform this to you. I don't know why but she sounded serious."_

"_Granny?!" Natsume raised his voice. "She's sick, isn't it? I thought her medical treatment's today?"_

_He shrugged. "For you to find out what her intentions are, Natsume."_

"_All right…"_

**End of flash back…**

The door opened, Mikan came out with her new outfit which the maids chose for her. She patted on his shoulder, "Hey, I'm done."

He snapped out of his day-dreaming and looked at her. "Hn…" He advanced forward, and she follows. "I heard you cried yesterday."

"Eh?" Mikan said.

Natsume stopped and stared at her eyes. "I told you, I'll find a way for your family visiting. Don't go around crying loud late at night!"

She looked at him confusedly. "S-since when did I cry?! After you left, I brushed my teeth and slept!"

He frowned. "Don't play jokes with me, lil girl. Ruka said he heard you crying when he passed by at your quarters."

Mikan sweat dropped. "Ruka did? Well, my quarter's quite near to the Queen's quarter. Maybe he overheard from your mom's side?"

"Don't be an idiot." He snapped and continued walking. "You knew that my granny is unwell, right?"

"Eh?! Really?!" She raised her voice. "What's her sickness?!"

He heaved a sigh. "It's useless talking to an idiot like you." Natsume reached to the quarter and said something to the maid. She bowed and went inside the room. "Remember, bow before her. She's the eldest in the royalty family."

Mikan stiffened up and whined, "I… I don't think I can handle this by myself!!"

"Of course you can't. That's why I'm here, you idiot." The door opened and he entered first. "Grandmother, good morning." He said while bowing. "How are you doing?" He walked forward and sat next to her, with worried expression.

The moderate elderly woman smiled. She looked so powerless, due to her old age. "I'm fine, Natsume-ouji. I'm only old, that's why. Ah… Is this your wife?" Natsume nodded. "She's so pretty… Come here, my child…"

Mikan came inside and bowed. "I… I'm Mikan Sakura…"

Minami, the old granny patted on a sofa, asking her to sit down next to her. Mikan advanced and rested herself beside her. "I'm worried on how my grandchild's wife might be. Now when I see you, you seem nice and kind."

Mikan flushed, "N-no, I'm… I'm not that kind…"

"Ah…? Humbleness, that's good. I have a wish before I die, Mikan-hime." Minami smiled at her. "I wish to have my great grandchildren as soon as possible."

Mikan blushed and shook her head while Natsume… only stared at his granny longingly. "Granny, I think you need a rest…"

"I'm fine, Natsume-ouji." Minami said. "You two will be turning 17 soon, right?" Both of them nodded. "Ah… I'll have to wait longer then…" Mikan sweat dropped.

X


	4. Chapter 4

Yuki: '' This story could've gone to the worst part… Bear my grammar mistakes! '''

**Chapter 4: To the Bride's house. Pt 1.**

"W-why didn't you say anything just now!?" Mikan, who was obviously angered by his cool attitude when granny talked about the joy of having a great grandchild, complained.

"Let her talk whatever she wants to, you fool. She's my granny."

"A-aren't you embarrassed?!" Mikan shouted at him. She was following him to his section.

"Why should I?" Natsume smirked. "What, are you desperate on having a child too?"

She flushed, "Y-you jerk!! I was not asking about that!!!" He grinned and opened his room. Shocked with the pinkish decoration with heart-shaped presents, she laughed. "W-what is this…? S-so pinkish! Hahaha!"

He picked up a box and looked at the end corner of it. It was written 'S.S'. "She's here already?"

Mikan grabbed a teddy bear with a picture of Natsume on its belly. "Who sent you these?? Boy, she sure is fanatic about you!"

"It's none of your business…" Natsume thundered. "Help me to throw these away…"

"T-throw?!" Mikan yelled. "No way! You shouldn't throw things away, Natsume! This person… really liked you."

"Just get rid of these, okay? Stop yapping..." Natsume growled as he took out the love-shaped streamers on his desk.

Mikan looked around his room. It was spacious and full of high tech gadgets. "Cool… this room is so unlike you…" She grabbed a digital camera and moved towards him. "Hey, let's take a picture!!"

"Get off, you idiot--" Before he managed to shove his arm from her, she posed and caught a picture with him. "Idiot!"

"Look!!" Mikan pointed to the LCD screen. "It's a nice picture, right?!" Both of them were photogenic in the picture.

"Whatever…" He ignored her and started to take all the chocolates from his wardrobe. "Damn…"

She pouted and looked around the room. She detected a picture. It was the Queen with Natsume. They wore normal clothes and looked happy. "You're so cute here!" Mikan took the picture and adored it.

"Don't touch my things!" He said.

"Natsume-darling!!" a voice called from outside, lunging a hug to Natsume who was holding up a box full of 'junk'. It was Sumire. He managed to move to the left, making her to hit the wall.

Mikan panicked and asked, "A-are you all right??!"

Sumire coughed and looked at Mikan. She was beautiful, all right. With her long hair reaching her waist, nails manicured, using expensive make-up and perfume, she's the opposite of Mikan. With glistened eyes, she smirked. "So, this is your 'wife'?"

Natsume stared and said, "Yeah…"

"Hmph, a poor girl like her as your wife?! Don't make me laugh, Natsume." She scanned Mikan from head to toe. "What a bad sense of fashion too!"

Mikan thought for a while, to repeat back what she had just mentioned. "W-what did you say?!"

"And an idiot too!" Sumire smug.

She gaped at Sumire. _She's such a…_ "I don't think I need to listen on what you feel about me, all right? I like the things as they are."

"Shouda, get out from my room." Natsume growled. The girl came up to him and whispered something to him. His eyes widened. "Get out, before I call the guards."

"H-how could you say that to your _girlfriend_, Natsume!" She purposely cried and ran out. Mikan sweat dropped.

"Your girlfriend?" She said pointing to the running 'object'. "Really?"

"Whatever." He calmly said as he threw out the things outside, ordering the maids to dump it. Natsume walked to his lazy chair and read a book.

She sat on his chair and asked, "Who's she?"

"I'm ignoring you, you know. Stop asking questions!"

Mikan mumbled and folded her arms. "Jeez… it's only a question! Hey, Natsume! How about we go out for a walk?"

"Nope, we need to have a photograph session with the Royal Magazine for the cover."

Mikan was awestruck. Having a picture taken with Natsume to be printed on the magazine and everybody will-- "N-no way!!"

Natsume smirked at her, "We were married, lil girl. Of course the whole world needs to know."

She wailed, "N-no!! Then everybody would think we're more like a real couple!!"

"No chance to avoid this kind of matter, lil girl." He continued reading. "Tell the Emperor then."

She moped and stood up. "What time are we supposed to go?"

"Another 20 minutes." He replied. "You'll change when we get there, so don't worry about changing."

She returned to her seat. "Mm… hm… hm…"

"Stop humming." He snapped.

"What do you expect me to do as a 16 years old?!" Mikan complained when Ruka came in, sweat dropping. "Ara, Ruka-chan."

He blushed when he heard her calling him '-chan'. Natsume only ignored and nodded at him. "Hi, Natsume and Mikan."

She walked towards Ruka and said, "Hey, hey. Mind walking around with me? Natsume's so boring…"

Ruka laughed, while Natsume said, "Hey, idiot. We're going now." He stood up and grabbed her hand.

She tried resisting, "We have another 15 minutes!"

"Never mind," He said as he pulled her towards the limousine.

Ruka watched as he witnessed Mikan's disappointed face and Natsume's… He squinted more and more because he could not believe what he saw on Natsume's expression. He was smiling so broadly.

X

Mikan was blushing the whole day during the photo session. Being so close with Natsume made her heart beating so fast. About an hour or two, the session was over. About a day or two, their wedding magazine will be published to the whole world.

"After this… we'll have to launch the opening ceremony at a mall in Harajuku…" He said while knuckling his fingers. "… I hate this."

Mikan nudged him, "Until when are we going to do this?"

"Until you grow old and become a granny." He snapped. She stuck out her tongue like a little girl. "We'll meet the King later."

Mikan sweat dropped and tugged his shirt. "N-Natsume…" She was still uncomfortable with her own in-laws.

"Be matured! Jeez, you're a married woman…"

"W-WHAT?!" Mikan yelled. Luckily they're in the car. "I'm not a married-- I… I am…" She had just realised who she was. "That sounds so disgusting!! A m-married woman!!"

"Three days later, we'll be going to school. Make sure your friends don't know about the promise our grandfathers made. It's a top secret."

She nodded. Mikan was curious on how her friends will react towards her. Things had changed for a short time. One minute she was nothing, and then suddenly she was the princess of her own country.

X

Throughout the day, she had been hiding behind Natsume during the big events, like a function. Natsume himself allowed her to do that since she was unaware about meeting with high-classes people, such as the Prime Minister himself. The following hours at 9 pm, Natsume and Mikan went inside the King's place. Fortunately for Mikan, the Queen has a business to do, so, she felt a little bit relieved.

"Seems that you looked well these days, Mikan-hime." Matsuda said with a huge smile on his face. "I'm glad that my princess is doing well. "

Mikan only bowed in return. She was wondering when Natsume would let her visit her family.

"My Highness," Natsume said. "It seems that my wife has been acting strangely at a function. I'm afraid she is unwell… She was looking pale and was muttering something to herself. I tried talking to the doctor, but he said nothing."

Mikan turned her head to Natsume, with her shocked eyes. _What the hell is he trying to pull at?!! I was not doing any of strange acts!! Natsume! Don't humiliate me in front of the King, you idiot!!!_ "N-no, your Highness. I was not--"

"Oh, it's all right, Mikan-hime. I'm sure you will be all right if you visited your home once in a while. It's the part of the wedding ceremony, to stay at the bride's house for a month. Is that okay to you, Mikan-hime?" Matsuda said.

She gaped at her father-in-law and then moved her soft eyes to Natsume. "Thanks, father…"

After being excused, Mikan squealed in happiness. "Wah, Natsume!! Thank you for giving me the chance!!"

He tucked in his hands inside his pockets. "Whatever… Hey, how many family members do you have?"

Mikan stared at him, "Um… including me, 4 people. Maybe 5… If my uncle stays there. Why?"

"I'm not used to live under a small house like yours."

"Then don't come! I'll be fine if you don't."

"Idiot, can't you get the picture? You're going back home because of me. Or else, you wouldn't get to stay there at all."

Mikan paused and drew a fake smile. "Aww, come on. You're feeling well now, right? So, we're going back home, okay??"

He shook his head in annoyance. "Geez, what a weird girl…"

X

"This is LIVE, coming from Mikan-hime's residence," said a reporter. "The newly wed couple will be staying at the bride's house for a month. The bodyguards were placed all around the roads to prevent any further complications. This is Rika Mire, thanks for tuning in."

Mikan heart thumped fast as she stepped in the house. Natsume closed the backdoor and scanned the area. She saw her family coming out from the stairs. She immediately hugged them tight and cried. "Mom… dad … gramps!!"

When Natsume stepped in the house, however, everybody stiffened. "Um…" He was not sure on how to address his in-laws.

"Just call us mom and dad." Yuka said with a forced smile. She was facing with the future emperor of Japan. "I-is that all right?"

He slightly flushed. "Y-yeah… 'mom'." Mikan noticed that his expression changed when he said that. Natsume shuts his eyes and said, "Oi, ugly." Everybody steered their eyes on Natsume for calling her 'ugly'. "Where's my room?" He said while taking off his shoes.

"Oh, about that…" Gramps interrupted Mikan. "I've prepared my room for your use. I'll be sleeping at the living room."

"No, never mind. I don't want to be disrespectful to the elders." Natsume said. He concentrated his eyes on Narumi. "Hey, you have two moms…?"

Mikan winced, meanwhile Narumi and Yuka sweat dropped. "N-no, it's a he… My dad has feminine looks, I think…" Natsume gave a nod, signalling that he understood.

"So…" Natsume dragged the word. "I'll be sleeping at the living room?"

Both Yuka and Narumi said, "No! Y-you're the Crown Prince…"

Mikan's uncle, Hiro came downstairs. He was young, as an uncle. He's only 18 and owned good looks, just like Narumi. He smirked. "Um, Mikan?" He called Mikan. "Why don't you and Natsume share a room?" His parents, gramps and Mikan gave a deathly glare at him. "Why not? You two are married, after all…" Hiro is staying here only for a momentarily, so a room was occupied with his preparation for the exams.

Mikan felt like stomping her uncle's foot for once. She turned to Natsume and tried to protest, but was interrupted. "Fine with me." She gaped at him, longingly. Her gramps was about to faint.

"Ahaha… haha…" Narumi faked his laugh. "T-that settles it… I think… Um, Hiro, carry their bags in…" Their uncle carried the luggage inside Mikan's room.

Later, that night, everybody was having a dinner. But the dinner was rather silent. Nobody dared to talk… until…

"H-how was the food?" Yuka asked carefully. Natsume stopped eating and examined.

"The soup was too salty and the prawns are too sweet… And there's not enough pepper in this menu…" Natsume said coldly. Everybody silenced and looked down. "Did I say something offensive?"

"N-no, it's all right!" Narumi said. "I'll ask my wife to cook better next time."

"Oh, okay. Please do so because I'm sensitive with foods. That's why I didn't bring any chef inside this house, so just relax." Natsume said.

A cold wind rushes inside the room, making everybody feeling tensed. Mikan already felt annoyed with his acts. "Natsume, don't say things like that!"

"…?" Natsume had no idea that he was being rude, because being frank in the palace was the utmost priority. "I'm full, thanks for the dinner…" He excused himself and walked to the sofa.

"M-Mikan…" Yuka said. "You've been enduring quite a while with him, huh?"

Narumi said, "Shh! He could hear you!"

Mikan sweat dropped. "Yeah, but sometimes…" She said looking at Natsume, watching the television. "He could be nice."

Uncle sneered, "Oh, Lookie. Someone has fallen for the prince…"

She pinched her uncle's thigh. He screamed and rubbed the part where she pinched. "Don't say such idiotic things, uncle!"

"Jeez, all right then!" He continued eating.

"Are you sure you're doing well in the palace?" Her gramps asked. "Nothing bad happened?"

"No, nothing at all. I missed you guys so much, that's all." Her gramps smiled.

Mikan walked towards Natsume, who was practically flipping a magazine, instead of reading it. "Hey! What's up?"

"Bored. Don't talk to me, it'll get worse."

"Ah, jeez. You don't have to talk to me like that!!" She said.

"What do you actually do at this hour? It's so… lifeless." He said.

"Jeez, at this hour…" She said while looking at the clock. "Usually K--" The door opened. It was her uncle's friend, Katsu, he was young, about 18 years old. He bought a teddy bear on his left hand. "K-Katsu!!"

His eyes widened. "Mi-chan!" She ran and hugged him tight, making Natsume's eyes twitching. He hugged her back. "Whoa! It's been a long time!!"

"Yeah, I know!" She pulled herself from him. "Your finals are tomorrow?"

Katsu smiled. "Yeah, I'm helping Hiro after this since he's weak in Physics."

"Aww… how sweet!!"

Katsu blinked as he saw Natsume on the couch, flipping the magazine furiously. "Your husband's here…"

Mikan winced, "H-husband?!" Katsu pointed to Natsume. "O-oh… yeah…"

He moved forward and bowed, "Nice to meet you, Crown Prince Natsume. I hope you're okay with our hospitality."

"Hn…" He replied. The clock shows 10 pm. Natsume stood up and headed to the bathroom.

Hiro said, after seeing Natsume in the bathroom. "Ne, Mikan. I think he's going to sleep."

She fumed up, "So what?!"

"Mind you, your bed is twin sized. I wonder how 2 people could fit on one bed…" Hiro wondered, sarcastically.

Mikan immediately came to her senses and dashed towards another bathroom. After brushing her teeth, she ran inside the room.

Katsu sweat dropped and sat next to Hiro in the dining table. "Aren't you a little bit mean, teasing her like that?"

"Come on, Katsu! I have a sixteen year old sis who's got a husband already." Hiro joked. "Of course I might feel a little bit jealous."

"Right…" Katsu shook his head.

Yuka talked to Narumi while washing the dishes, "M-my daughter…"

"D-don't worry, let's hope nothing will happen…" Narumi wished. His wife only nodded.


	5. Chapter 5

Yuki: Is it all right so far?? Please review, okay? No flames, please. Don't review if you don't like it.

**Chapter 5: To the Bride's House. Pt 2.**

A minute later, Natsume opened Mikan's door and entered. It was a small room. Almost like a store room, instead of a bedroom. It only occupies a twin sized bed, a small desk, a chair, and a small wardrobe. He cursed under his breath on how stuffy the room was like. There is no air-condition in this house, so, he was sweating a bit-- after having a long bath 2 minutes ago.

He saw Mikan ducking down, whispering to herself. He placed a hand on her head, she yelled. "What the hell…? Screaming like that?"

"You scared me!!" She said, while placing a hand on her chest. "Hey… um… do you mind if I put a futon on the floor and--"

"No, I'm a prince. I don't sleep on futons…" Natsume retaliated. "Since you're a commoner, you sleep on the floor."

"B-but!! It's… Hey!!" She buried her face on her palms as he took off his shirt and wore a vest. "Whatever, I've not slept on the floor either! My back aches the next morning, all right!?"

"Hey… I've been sleeping on a bed which's as big as your room for 17 years already." He folded his arms. "I'm going to sleep…"

"Ah! I don't care already!" She said entering the covers first. "You sleep down there."

He entered it too, "Or we sleep together."

She blushed and turned her head to the opposite. "You'll regret it later, if I kick you down the floor!" Minutes has passed by. She could not shut her eyes at all. _S-shoot, having a guy sleeping behind me is… so insecure!_ She turned towards him, she was facing his back. _D-darn, I can't sleep at all. B-but… his back… Why do I like it…? N-no, what am I thinking?! Aaargh!_

Natsume, on the other hand, thought, _What's she doing at this late hour?!_

The next day, he woke up in a start when he felt something wet behind his back. He sat up and saw her drooling behind his back. "That girl...!" He inspected her expression. _She was smiling while sleeping. I haven't seen her face like this back in the palace… Is this place so good? Weird…_

A knock was heard from the door. It was Yuka. Her face went pale when she entered the room. Natsume was next to her, reading a book. "Err, ahem. How's your night?" She placed a tray of breakfast on a table.

"It was great." He gave her a cold aura. "Thanks for the breakfast… em... mom…" She was startled when she heard her name being called upon with his soft voice. "S-sorry, I'm not used to call 'mom'…"

"No, it's okay…" Yuka said. "I'll excuse myself. Be sure not to be late for school. I'm sure everybody would love to see you two back there." She exited the place.

He tapped on Mikan's shoulder, trying to wake her up. "Oi, idiot. Wake up!"

"1 minute…" She doesn't realise that he was next to her. She wrapped her arm around his stomach and nuzzled her face. "Zzzz…"

Natsume blushed and took a glance at the clock. It was 6 am. He woke up pretty early, so he just rested on the pillow. "Hm…" He looked around her room. Actually, it was cosy. Not bad for a sixteen. He noticed that she had been admiring plush toys, after seeing a rack full of it. One of the dolls was Katsu's gift last night. A vein popped when he remembered Katsu hugging her so tightly, right in front of him.

After thinking about that, Mikan felt that she was holding onto something that is not among of her possessions. It was not her dolls and when she woke up, she saw herself hugging him. She jerked herself away from him and pointed to him. "Y-you!!"

"You were the one hugging me. I tried waking you up." Natsume smirked. "Enjoyed hugging people without permission?"

"N-Natsume!!!" She threw a doll at him, he avoided it. "Don't say things I don't want to hear!"

He shrugged. "I'm telling the truth. By the way, you were the one showing your strawberries to people just like that." He stood up and exited.

Mikan was startled when he said that. The only thing that was 'strawberrish' about her was… "NATSUME!!!!!"

X

Natsume got out of the car. She slowly got out of the car and faced the school building. Feeling tension, she was afraid of taking a step ahead. He realised this and said, "You're the Crown Princess now, don't feel so low."

"I…I don't know how to face them. What if they think differently of me?!" Mikan said, "I haven't told them a single thing that happened drastically on me. What if--"

He interrupted, "Strengthen your shoulders, and look straight. I'll wait at the back exit after school." He wanted to walk away but his shirt was tugged by Mikan. She stared at him, with a disappointed face. "Just go, idiot. You'll be fine." He released her grip and walked away.

_Maybe if you're in my class, I would feel less tension_… Mikan blinked twice. _After that night, I changed somewhat!?!_ She went inside the teacher's room and said, "Ah, Misaki-sensei…"

"Ah… welcome back… em…" Misaki said doubtfully. "What shall I call you now…?"

She smiled, "Just call me Mikan; it's all right, sensei."

"Ahaha, all right then." He led her to the classroom. "I'm sure everybody's keen to meet you." He slides open the door and entered. "Class, be quiet. I have an announcement. Mikan is here to join us, isn't that great? Now, exchange your greetings."

"Em, hi there, you guys." Mikan smiled. "I'm really glad to meet you guys. I missed all of you too. So… em--" She stared at her classmates, who only gave her a bored and sarcastic looks at her. She detected Ruka, who only avoided her eyes. _W-what's wrong with them? W-what did I do wrong??_

X

"Hey, Natsume!" A classmate called. "Is she a millionaire daughter or something?"

"No, I don't think so!" Another boy said, "Maybe her father's a politician?"

"Congrats on becoming a married man!" A red haired boy said, "I wish I was married that early…"

"Then go and get married! Don't bother studying, Maki." A girl said, looking furious.

Natsume retreated from the gossip circle and walked towards the window. He detected his wife on a bench, crying. "Damn… now what happened?" He saw her wiping her tears with a handkerchief. "Cry-baby…"

X

Mikan walked upstairs after giving an excuse to the restroom. She returned to her classroom, and it was recess time. She sat next to Hotaru and said, "Hotaru-chan, would you like to have a lunch with me?"

The ice queen stared at her. "No. I'm eating with Mika."

"A-are you mad because I didn't tell you anything, Hotaru?" Mikan asked. "I… It happened so fast, I didn't know what to--"

"Excuse me, I'm leaving." Hotaru turned her head.

Mikan slammed the table. "W-what's wrong with all of you!? W-what did I do so wrong that all of you are against me?! Don't ignore me like that!!"

A bang was heard, "Congratulations on becoming a married woman, Mikan!!" Everybody cheered, including the fans of Natsume. The balloons were released from nowhere and everybody started clapping hands loudly.

Mikan's eyes widened. "Y-you g-guys… I… Idiots…" Hotaru smiled at her and gave her a big hug. She cried on her shoulder.

"Oh, gee…" Kitsuneme said. "We made her cry…"

"But our acting was really good; we've got her crying already!" Kokoro Yome said.

Yuu sweat dropped. "I told you guys that we over-did that…"

Ruka watched from the corner and smiled.

X

"Ruka! I can't believe that you actually joined them!" Mikan complained while walking towards the exit with him. "I feel so cheated a while ago…"

He laughed. "I wouldn't join them but they begged me. And it went pretty well, huh?" He suddenly moved towards her closely, the gap was about 5 centimetres. "When are you coming back to the palace?"

She jerked herself from him. _H-he got me by surprise. _"Em… I think after a month. It'll be quick."

"Oi, idiot." Natsume called from the back, inside the limousine. "What are you doing? Get in…"

"Natsume… ah, you're e-early!" She went inside the car and waved at Ruka. "Bye, Ruka. I'll see you back in the palace real soon."

He waved back and Natsume said, "See you, cousin."

Ruka watched as the car drove away. He spotted Natsume's seat beside Mikan's. "That seat was supposed to be mine…" He frowned and walked on.

X

Narumi went for work and will be coming home late meanwhile Yuka was busy with her accountings. Gramps went to the shrine nearby to pray and Hiro will be back at 5 pm with Katsu after their examinations are over. Looks like Mikan and Natsume are the ones at home, watching television.

Mikan laughed while pointing to the television, meanwhile he only watched her. "I saw you crying just now. What happened?"

She paused from her laughter and moved her eyes on him. "Now you mentioned it…" She told him everything that occurred. "It was so mean, Ruka himself agreed to do that."

"Oh…" He said. "So, how was Ruka?"

"As sweet as ever." She smiled. "I think Hotaru will be coming any minute now."

"For what, idiot?"

"Em, nothing. Just hanging out…" Mikan murmured. "I haven't seen her for ages…"

"Do whatever you want… I don't care." Natsume shuts his eyes and placed a hand over it. "I need a rest."

"Okay…" She brought a cushion to her chin and hummed a tune. Minutes later, a doorbell rang. "Ah, it must be Hotaru!" She stood up and rushed herself outside. When she opened the gate, it was… "Ruka?"

"Yeah, wait for a sec. Your friend went to buy a drink." He said. "Is Natsume around?"

"Yeah, taking a nap." Mikan said, allowing him to come inside.

"N-nap?!" Ruka blinked his eyes. "Ahaha, when he was small, he wouldn't take a nap in public. He would go to his room, you know."

Mikan cupped her chin. "Is that so?"

He folded his arms. "Yeah, I'm his cousin. I can't be lying about that." Hotaru went inside and panted. "That took a while, Imai."

"Yeah…" Hotaru exhaled a breath. "Hey, Mikan…"

"What is it?" She looked confused.

"You're alone with your husband?"

"Don't say so directly." Mikan said annoyingly. "We're alone, why's that?"

Hotaru's eyes glinted. "I need to take his photo…" She carried her camera along. "You wouldn't mind, would you…?"

Mikan backed away. "N-no, of course not!" She led them inside the living room. Natsume, was not sleeping, instead, he was cooking. Shocked with his actions, she rushed towards him. "H-hey! Let me do the cooking…"

"No, I'm all right." Natsume scowled. "Don't interfere."

Hotaru smiled, "Hey… let your wife cook for you. It's her duty."

Mikan winced, "I d-didn't mean that way…"

Natsume smirked. "Oh, I didn't know you liked me that much…" He handed the ladle to her.

"I told you, I didn't mean that kind of thing!!" Mikan blushed as she cooked.

Natsume, Ruka and Hotaru were inside the living room. The blonde broke the ice, "Natsume, how was your day here?"

"… Fine…" He commented. "Found it hard adapting their ways of life."

Hotaru snapped several photos of him. "Hm… where did you sleep at? There aren't many rooms in here…"

Natsume pointed to the busy-looking Mikan. "Her room."

Ruka coughed when he choked on his drink. It took him a while to clear his throat. "H-her room?!"

Natsume nodded. "We're married, so… I don't think there's anything wrong… right?" He sensed that Ruka has changed since he met Mikan, so, he took the chance to recheck. As he suspected, Ruka's face turned white.

Hotaru said, "Interesting… I warn you, if you do anything to her…"

Natsume smirked, "As if I would take advantage on an idiot…" He called to Mikan. "Hey, are you done yet? I'm hungry!"

"I'm cooking here! Just wait for a while!" Mikan said with an angry tone.

Hotaru stood up and said, "I'll help her… She's cooking for the four of us…." She turned around and went into the kitchen.

Natsume looked at Ruka, who was disturbed with the Natsume-sleeping-with-Mikan incident. "Are you worried?"

He concentrated his eyes on him. "Why should I?"

"Well…" He snickered. "I took your ex-fiancée after all. I could sense that you're agitated…"

Ruka lowered his head. "Hm… Of course I am agitated. If only my father didn't pass away so quickly…" He faced Natsume, with confidence. "I would've married her."

_Just like the old Ruka. Always speak the truth, and nothing but the truth. _"It's too late for that. I'm warning you, she's your cousin-in-law. Keep your distance from her and let me remind you…" He drew closer to him. "She's mine and I'll do whatever I want to because she's my wife."

"Sorry to keep you waiting!!" Mikan said cheerfully as she brought the foods on the table. She sat beside Natsume and Hotaru next to Ruka. "Hey… Ruka-chan. A-are you all right?" She said with deep concerned eyes.

"I… I'm all right." Ruka shook his head from Natsume's threat. _We'll see how long you two will get along._

X

"M-mom!! Dad!" She yelled. "I… I don't want to go back!! Can't I stay a few more days?!" It was her last night in her house. Days have passed by so coldly that she did not manage to spend the quality time together that much.

Yuka placed a finger on her lips. "Shuush, my darling. Gramps will hear you. You've stayed here for a month, already."

Narumi pulled Mikan to his chest, letting her to cry. "Look, all of us don't even want to let you go. But, please. If you don't go back, we'll be the traitor for the country."

She clasped her mom's hands. "I don't want to…" Katsu looked at her sadly along with Hiro.

Behind a wall, Natsume watched from afar. "What's this… a funeral?"

X

The next day, Natsume and Mikan was outside of the house, leaving the Sakura residence.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you. We'll stop by whenever we can." Natsume said. He glanced to Mikan, whose eyes are about to cry. "Let's go…" He grabbed her by the shoulders and entered the car.

"W-wait!" She said after she got in. "I… I want to say a proper good-bye!"

"No." Natsume said. "Driver, to the palace."

"W-what?!"


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for your reviews, guys… But, you'll have to read the chapter 3 back, because I've placed chapter 4 first… Gomen! Try reading back the 3rd chapter, please!!

**Chapter 6: A New Twist.**

Back in the palace, the Emperor made a decision about Serina and her child, Ruka. He confronted his wife in his place and said, "I'm thinking of giving my late brother a higher status than me."

Karin stared at him in disbelief. "W-wait a second, what are you saying?!"

"My late brother passed away at a higher status than me anyway. So, I don't think there should be any problem." Matsuda said with a melancholy tone, while looking away from his wife's shocked face.

_D-don't tell me… he's still bearing feelings on her!_ "Is… is this her request?"

"W-what do you mean?" Matsuda said, wide eyed.

"Serina…" She said shaking her head.

"K-Karin!"

"If the late king is put as a higher status, Ruka's position for the throne will be in the second line. And then Serina and Ruka will stay around this area. And, both of you can remain closer within these confines--"

"Karin, stop it!"

"H-how long are you going to distress me, my Highness…? How long?" Karin said with her brows frowning.

X

"J-just what did you say?!" Mikan exclaimed, "I need a good-bye!" The car started moving from her house. "Natsume!"

He pushed a button, enabling a barrier between the driver and the passenger's seat. "Stop acting like a baby. You're not the only married woman getting separated from your parents, idiot."

"W-what?! I'm only a seventeen!"

"Right now…" He said looking at her. "You're the third's highest ranking. A person like you sticking with your parents, crying your eyes out… You need a bottle to fill it up? Jeez, give me a break…"

She looked at him, worriedly. "Don't say like that… you've never missed your parents?"

He looked at her for one second and then moved, "No, to the point that I think it's weird."

_Is he always like this? I've never seen him in this manner for the few months ago in the palace, until he came to my place. It seems that he is unreachable… But, I'll have to endure it because he's my husband…_ She took out a doll which Katsu named it 'Mie'. Mikan hugged it tightly while closing her eyes.

X

"So…" Matsuda said, facing to his son and daughter-in-law. "How was your day in the in-law's house?"

"It was fun… and new." Natsume said.

Matsuda cupped his own chin and asked, "New? What do you mean by that?"

"New, as in, knowing how ordinary people live in their houses. I didn't know that they cook for each other's meal when he or she arrived home first. And they actually crammed their toothbrushes in a container. Seeing all that makes me feel how a family should be…"

After hearing what their son had just said, Matsuda and Karin looked at him with a sad face. Mikan only stared at Natsume, surprised that he actually felt what 'family' means to him _Natsume, what are you thinking? Do you prefer the way that my family treats you instead of here?_

"There's no need to make those faces. I had a hard time adapting those things." He closed his sentence by drinking a tea.

Matsuda said, "How was it for you, Princess?"

Mikan winced, "W-well, I…" She paused for a moment. "I have been really thankful for your Graciousness to allow me to visit my home. I am thankful, your Majesty."

"All right then," Matsuda said with a smile. "I'll see whether you could visit your home often. Don't worry."

Mikan had a smile on her face; meanwhile Natsume only stared at his father. "When my mother's father passed away 3 years ago, even then, she was unable to leave for the funeral." Matsuda and Karin flinched. His wife looked at Natsume with her scared face. "Now, I'm married. I'm the head of the family now, and her palace is within my quarters, therefore, wouldn't the final decision concerning my wife lie with me? Therefore, from now on, the decisions of where my wife goes shall lie with me."

X

Mikan was hanging around at Natsume's place. "They've borne such an impressive son…" She folded her arms while looking around his room.

Natsume sat on a chair and looked at her. "Hm…?"

"What was that again, you're the head of the family right now?" Mikan said with a smirk. "And you'll be deciding wherever I go? This is too funny…" She walked to him, "B-but, you'll send me there, right? Right?"

He heaved a sigh and looked at the window. "I was not kidding. It depends on how you carry your duty as the new queen."

She gripped her fist and said, "Y-you know… you've been really scary lately since you came to my house?" He adjusted his view on her face. "From the time we departed, I was scared."

For a second or two, he said, "Heh, you got scared? That's good then…" He looked away from her.

"I want us to have a cool relationship and not fight. As you said earlier, we may get divorced but…" She looked at him, who was looking furious about something. "N-never mind… I'll take my leave…"

"Wait." Natsume called for her. "Just a minute."

She turned back. "What is it?"

"How was it when you call your mom 'okasan'?" Natsume asked. "I wanted to ask Ruka, but it's embarrassing to do that. So, since you're my wife, could you tell me?"

She thought hard and said, "Err… I don't really feel anything, you know. I just use it… And… Well, maybe it sounds warm and nice when you call it to the Queen, you know. Try it once, and see how it gets." Natsume gazed at her and nodded. "See you tomorrow." Mikan left the Prince's quarters.

X

"Really…" said a man with white hair. "You need to concentrate on your duties as the second-in-line queen, Serina-sama. Or else, Karin-sama would disgrace your position."

"Going back to the palace… and to live behind the walls again would be such a drag for me." Serina said. "And, I'm doing this for my son. To give him back to the rightful place which was taken away from him." Serina thought back of her last conversation with her son few hours ago, saying that he wanted to get back the throne from Natsume. "And I meant it."

X

"Royal student meeting?" She asked to Ruka, who was standing beside Natsume. "What's that?" Mikan was about to enter her room and halted.

"Em, there's a number of high school students in the royal family. We made a study group, just for fun and all. I'm the group president but Shin's not really in the group. He's only a tag along, hehe…"

"Oh…" Mikan said, doubtfully.

"Come on, they said they want to meet you." Ruka persuaded. Mikan nodded and followed him to a section in the Prince's quarters.

The moment she opened the sliding door, it was full of bishounen. Unlike her imagination which consists of nerdy boys, some of them were handling a guitar. _Whoa, what is this place? An actor's corner? All of them are so good looking!_

A black haired guy looked up and waved, "Hi, Crown Princess! Mikan, isn't it?" Mikan stepped in front and nodded. "Cute, I'm Tsubasa Ando, 19 years old. Nice meeting you!" He nudged a blonde beside him, "Hey, it's her." The blonde looked at her and smiled.

Ruka sat in the circle and pulled Natsume and Mikan in it. "Hey guys. It's Mikan, Natsume's wife. Do an intro."

A blonde reached his hand to her, "I'm Sono Kaname, same age as Tsubasa. Such a pretty wife you have, Natsume. Be nice to her."

"Anyhow, she's still an idiot…" He folded his arms. Mikan shot an angry stare at him after shaking hands with Kaname. "Hey… Youichi. Come here…" He patted on his thigh to a grey haired boy.

"Natsume-niichan!" He came up to him and sat on his lap, while Natsume stroked his head.

Mikan, who was dumbfounded, whispered to Ruka, "W-who's that? Why's Natsume so nice towards him?" Her voice was loud enough to be heard from a guy who was sitting across Mikan.

"That's Hijiri Youichi, a three years old boy. He has been a favourite to Natsume since he was born. Now, they're stuck like glue…" A blue haired boy eyed them. "I'm Ani Shouda."

Mikan was shocked. The name 'Shouda' reminded him of Sumire. "A-are you by any chance… Sumire's…"

Ani nodded. "Yeah, my sister. The talkative one, right? I've heard what she said to you, I'm sorry on behalf of her. She's nosy sometimes."

"N-no, it's okay. Nice meeting you, Ani-senpai." Mikan said. She looked at Natsume who was talking to Youichi.

"Tsubasa!!!!" A girl shouted from a corner, was running towards him and hits his head. "Where were you?! I was on my own until--" She spotted Mikan, who was gazing at her. "Ah!! Isn't that Mikan?! Wah, she's so adorable!!" She hugged her tight. "I wish she could be my sister!!"

Tsubasa sweat dropped and held the girl's clutches on Mikan. "Misaki-chan, don't be rough to her! She's Natsume's wife, you monster!"

Misaki stopped and stared at him, "W-what did you call me? M-monster?!" She released her and chased him out of the room. Mikan sweat dropped.

"W-who was that?" Mikan pointed.

Ruka said, "Ah, that's Misaki Harada. She's pretty close to Tsubasa since elementary."

She was impressed, "I see…" She moved forward to Natsume and said, "Hey there, are you Youichi?"

Natsume smirked, he handed her Youichi, who pulled her hair. "He hates strangers."

"Ahhh!!" She shrieked, "My hair!!" Ruka rushed towards her and released Youichi's grip on her hair. "T-thanks, Ruka-chan."

"Never mind…" He smiled. "Natsume, don't give Youichi since you knew he would do that!"

"Ah, she wanted to hold him so much…" Natsume said while patting Youichi's head. "Hey, idiot. Come to another corner with me, they're working on something that doesn't interest us." He stood up and walked to another room after leaving Youichi in the group.

"O-oh, all right…" She stood up and said, "I'll join you guys later, all right? Nice meeting you!" Everybody waved at her as she exited.

"Hey, Ruka?" Kaname called. "Are you okay?"

"Em…" He stared down to his electric guitar. "I'm okay, Kaname-senpai."

Mikan followed to the room where Natsume went, it was full of books and looked more like a library. She saw him sitting down on a sofa, reading a book while listening to his disc player. She sat beside him and said, "Hey, you told me to come and here you are listening to music and reading a book?"

Natsume ignored her and started to hum a song.

"Jeez… Are you listening to me??" Mikan asked, but no response. She stared at his face for a minute and blurted out, "Em… Do you hate and regretted marrying me? If my family tried to reject the engagement over and over, until I'm freed, maybe you would marry someone you really like. If that's the case, then you probably have a happier look on your face than you do right now…" She looked at her with disappointed eyes. He continued ignoring her. "I don't like feeling like a disturbance, but, when I feel that you could've married someone else, I feel even worse…" She clasped her hands, "Aren't I weird?"

Natsume suddenly stood up and removed his headset. "I'm going to the restroom." He exited the place and left her.

She reached for the disc man. "What was he listening--" Once she opened the cover, there was no CD. "W-where's the CD? A-and…" She searched for other things, "N-no radio attachment… either?!" She panicked and remembered, "T-that guy… could've he heard anything?!!!"

Mikan stood up and stamped her feet on the ground. _T-that idiot!! What was he thinking?!! Oh my God, I'll have to leave before he arrives…_ She went outside and placed a hand on her head. As she walked down, she bumped into… "N-Natsume!"

"Where are you going?" He said grabbing her arm. "We'll leave after this, all right?"

"Err… I…I had something to do… Haha… Um… L-Lady Otonashi c-called m-me…" She was stuttering non-stop. Natsume stared at her for a second and grinned. _O-oh shoot!! H-he heard everything after all!!!_ She zoomed outside after resisting his grip.

"What a klutz…" Natsume said with a smirk.


	7. Chapter 7

Yuki: Yeah, I admit… There were some typing errors… Like a she into a he… and all sort of stuffs… You see, I've written this story a month ago… And to check back all the mistakes in this… (sweat drop) It'll take a while…

Sometimes I day-dream a lot while doing that. Thanks to McR.RoCkZ, I didn't realise that errors I've made. --'' I'm pretty lazy on checking it… (glooms…) For your info, I've replaced the chapter 6 with less grammar mistakes.

And f.i.y, about the 'chan' I used on Ruka… In Japanese, it was used on the boys too. Not only girls. 'chan' means '-dear'… And for a high school girl like Mikan to call Ruka '-chan-' is quite childish… That's the reason why I'm putting '-chan'

And of course, many people would prefer the manga better… I can't really copy the whole thing out… --'' I tried to make it different… I stopped reading on volume 8, so… I have to figure out myself on how to tackle things about Serina…

**Chapter 7: The Rumour. True or False?**

"H-Hotaru!!! W-what shall I do?!" She wailed in misery. They were having lunch in the gardens during recess time. Well hidden enough from Natsume's class.

Her best friend was eating snacks, "What an idiot…"

"T-that's not what a best friend should say!!" Mikan replied angrily. "It's so embarrassing! I've even gave excuses to him yesterday around dinner time and ate alone. And this morning, I woke up early to go to school without going in the same car! Hotaru… I can't avoid him forever!!" She buried her face on her palms.

"That's why… Just confront him, Mikan…" Hotaru said. "You can't hide from him since he's your husband already."

"B-but, I didn't say 'I like you', right? I only said I would be sad if he's married to another girl, no big deal… right?"

Hotaru hits her head with a thermos bottle. "You idiot!! That's the same thing!" She looked at her friend. "But… seriously. You liked him?"

Mikan nodded. "How can you not like someone who's always beside you 24/7??"

Hotaru rested her eyes on her lunchbox. "Just do whatever you think is right, Mikan. I can't help you much… for an idiot like you."

X

"Em…" Ruka asked as they were walking towards outside with Mikan after the school ends. "Why did you leave so early yesterday? I didn't know about it."

Mikan apologetically said, "Gomen, Ruka-chan… I was… thinking about something, you know. Um, I supposed you knew Lady Otonashi right? I had a meet-up with her."

"Oh? Otonashi-san? No wonder…" Ruka smiled.

"Ah, Ruka-chan. I need to ask you about Sumire. Do you know who she is?" Mikan asked.

Ruka's eyes widen. "Sumire Shouda? Err… well… I don't know whether I should tell you this but… She is Natsume's girlfriend… She went overseas about a year ago… And only a few knew about his relationship with her."

Mikan's heart felt like it was stabbed with a sword. "P-pardon me? G-girlfriend?"

Ruka nodded. "Yeah, they've been together for about… 2 years or 3? I don't know… Something concerning her to you?"

_I-I've became his wife and I don't even know a thing about this? Is this some kind of a joke?!_ Mikan shook her head and said, "N-no… I'm all right."

"Hey…" He said while grabbing her arm, Mikan blushed. "I'll be having my birthday party next week. Please come for my sake, okay?"

"E-eh?! You're birthday's next week?!" Mikan said. "Of course I'll come!"

"Your attendance would be my best present." Ruka said, smiling. She flushed and turned her head away until someone came in between them. "Oh, hi cousin."

Natsume pulled her into his chest and said, "I was calling for you and you didn't hear. Let's go." He dragged Mikan, who was waving at Ruka, into the car and drove away.

Inside the car, Mikan tried to avoid any eye contact with Natsume. She was too embarrassed to face him, and now she's right next to him in a car. There were two things that made her angry. Firstly, the confession he purposely heard and secondly… _H-he lied to me about Sumire… He's got Sumire already, why didn't he tell me earlier? Now… I don't think I could--_

"Hey, idiot! Wake up, you're day-dreaming!" Natsume called out. He sensed that she was upset about something. "What are you thinking?"

Mikan stared at him and shook her head. "N-nothing…"

He looked perplexed, "What did Ruka said to you?" She averted his question. Natsume started to feel suspicious. "I demand a truth."

She was angered, "What did you say?! You demand a truth from me?! W-what about me?! Y-you never told me that Sumire was your girlfriend! H-how could you!! You could've married her instead of being with me! I… I felt like I was… cheated. Being together with you for the past 4 months… I…"

Natsume smirked and folded his arms, "Ah… I see. So, you knew."

Mikan's eyes widened. _D-did I hear it right? H-he… T-that means, what Ruka said was true!!?_

"The reason why I chose you was… she rejected my marriage proposal." Natsume said calmly. "So… I selected you."

She felt like choking him here and then. _The words coming out from him… are those things true? W-why did you…_

"If you want to know why she rejected, it's because she wanted to pursue her studies further. Of course, I loved her so much; I wouldn't want her to be confined like you did here."

_E-enough, I don't want to hear anything about this!!!!_

"Any more questions regarding her? I presume you heard enough from me already."

_T-that i-idiot…_

"Mmm… Hey, we're here already. Come--" He wanted to grab her hands but she shove it away. "What the…"

"I… I don't want to get near with a useless person like you." She cried and escaped to the forest after getting out at the opposite side of Natsume's car door. "J-jerk… I didn't know he was like that…"

Natsume ruffled his hair, "Whoa… she went over-board this time…" _Hm… I'm beginning to know how this will get…_

X

Mikan confined herself in the Princess's room; it has been a week since she has done that. She even skipped school, with an excuse of not feeling well. (Who would've felt good when your husband cheated you?)

But on a fine day, Natsume himself took this opportunity to visit her. (Kind?) Instead of knocking, he kicked the door and the door flung open. He saw her on a bed, looking pretty much ill. He sighed and took a chair to sit next to her. When he did, she turned to the opposite direction.

"Hey… You're so emotional…" Natsume said. "I said only a little bit and then you ran away."

She burst into tears when she heard that. "Who wouldn't be emotional when a husband cheats his wife, you stupid idiotic heartless freak!!!"

He cupped his ears and smirked. "Well, well, well… Now you admitted that I'm your husband, huh? This is a surprise for a make-up story… I didn't know the response would've been this serious…"

She stopped crying and faced him. He was… laughing. "W-what do you mean by that!?"

"Oh, jeez… I was making up that story, you idiot. The rumour between me and her dating for the past three years was all her blabber mouth. I didn't care about that much… until…" He stared at her. "Until you knew, that is."

"J-jerk!!! NAT--SU--ME!!!!!" She hits him with a pillow. He grabbed her by her hand. "What do you want now?!!!"

"Let's go eat. Karin-sama was worried and she decided to come here, but I blocked her." Natsume said. "So… does this mean that the confession back at the Royal Students Meeting was true? You really felt this bad when I decided to marry someone else?"

"S-stop that!!!" She blushed furiously. "I don't want to hear anything!!" Her anger was disturbed with a stomach growl. Her red cheeks grew redder. "S-shoot…"

He asked the maids to prepare a table for them to eat at her place. The maid bowed and excused herself. "So stupid of you to actually believe that…" _For now, I think it's the best to keep things at bay from her…_

"…" Mikan sat up straight and looked at her fingers. "… Yeah, I'm dumb. So what? I was born like this…"

Natsume folded his arms and said, "Ruka's birthday party's today. You'll have to go."

"Ah, it's today?" She said in a surprise. "O-oh… I see…" She showed him a muffler. "Look, I've knitted for him. Isn't this great?" It was a beige coloured muffler with white stripes horizontally. There's lettering on it, it was 'Ruka'.

He was… resentful about his own wife knitting a present for her ex-fiancé, even though she has no idea about that. "…"

"H-hey, Natsume? You all right?" She asked while she was touching his cold hands.

He noticed that her hands are bandaged. That makes him even worse. "What the hell's wrong with you?! Knitting for him until your hands are bandaged?!"

"Huh?" She said, "My hands? Well, yeah. I've made two mufflers, you see…"

Natsume looked mystified. "Huh?"

"Look!!" She showed him another muffler. This time it was black coloured with white stripes too. There was a black cat at the every corner of the muffler. It's written 'Natsume' in white. "It's for you, even though I was angry… I couldn't help it. I was thinking of not making one for you… but… here." She handed him the muffler. "The winter season's months ahead."

He reddened a little bit when he received the present from her. It was his first present that made him feel something awkward. "Uh… Thanks?"

"Mm… I want an apology. You lied to me about Sumire, so you have to say sorry!"

"Ah, whatever. I won't." He wrapped it around his neck. "Not bad for an idiot like you…"

"That's mean!!" She whined. "Give it back to me then!!"

He shook his head, hearing a knock, Natsume opened it. The maids placed the food on the table and exited. "You want to eat?"

She nodded. Mikan was on her feet when Natsume pushed her back. "H-hey! What's that for?!"

"Sit there… You're ill…" Natsume said as he walked to the table and brought the tray of food on her bed. "Go on…"

She nodded and started to eat with her bandaged hands. Natsume watched her eat and rested on the chair, admiring her works.

X

At Ruka's place, everybody was invited in his house at Shibuya. His classmates, the Royal Student Meeting's group, and other people were there. Including Hotaru. Mikan and Natsume entered the house wearing formal clothing.

"H-hey, Natsume…?" She asked. "Where's Ruka?"

Natsume looked at her and said, "There, he's next to-- Shouda." He sighed. _What's he trying to pull? _

Mikan saw Sumire, who was talking to Ruka. They seemed close and then the conversation stopped when Ruka spotted her. "Hey, Mi-chan. Natsume!" They walked forward and greeted, "Glad that you're here!"

Mikan handed Ruka the present, "Here… It's from me." He joyfully accepted it.

Natsume said, "You received mine?"

"Yeah… but… I think you went over-board with that…" He said with a sweat drop.

_I wonder what present is that…_ Mikan said, curiously. Suddenly, Shouda stood in front of them, smiling at Natsume. _She's so beautiful… If that rumour was true, I don't deny Natsume getting attracted to her…_

"Hey, mind having a talk with me for a while, Natsume-dear?" Sumire asked.

He looked at Mikan who was looking devastated. Natsume said, "Sure… Make it fast, because I'm not comfortable hanging around with you that long in this area."

From that minute, Mikan said, "I… I'm thirsty… I'll go and--"

Ruka grabbed her hand and pulled her to a corner. "I'll accompany her."

Natsume saw the look on Ruka's face and confirmed his hypothesis. _So smart… our little Ruka…_

When Ruka and Mikan reached the table, she grabbed a glass of water and felt like throwing it on... _Natsume… why did he agreed to talk to her? Sumire, how could she demand a private talk with him? And what's with Ruka, inviting her all of a sudden? All three of them, they're horrible!!!_

"Err… Mikan?" Ruka asked, "Are you… disturbed with Sumire?"

"E-eh? Um…" Mikan looked down. "Yeah… I don't really mind Natsume's words on attacking my pride, but what I can't stand is… scandal. I'm not sure whether the scandal was true, but, I'll just believe what he just said to me…"

"What did he say to you?" He asked curiously. Hotaru went up to them and interrupted the conversation. "Imai?"

The girl with amethyst eyes stared at Ruka for a while and then to her best friend. "Mikan…" Hotaru grabbed her hand. "Look, we need a talk right now. It's important."

Mikan observed Hotaru's serious looking face and nodded. "Sorry, Ruka-chan. I'll see you later…" Ruka replied with a smile. She walked with Hotaru towards the Royal Student Meeting. "E-eh? You knew them already?"

"I was the part of the Royal Student Meeting." Hotaru said solemnly. Mikan looked confused. "Idiot, I'm a royalty too."

She jumped backwards, pointing at Hotaru and then to Kaname and Tsubasa. "H-Hotaru!? A royalty?! M-my God!!"

Kaname grinned, "Yeah, she was one of us. When she wants to attend the government's high school, she quitted this group."

Tsubasa spotted Natsume talking with the ever beautiful Sumire. "No way, Sumire's back already?!"

"Huh?" Hotaru said, looking at her back. She saw Sumire hanging out with Natsume. "..."

Mikan felt left out when they were talking something about Sumire. "Em… is it true that Natsume's girlfriend was Sumire?"

Kaname chuckled, "Well, Natsume only danced with her few years back. But she was getting the wrong idea every time he met her. Her father was a good friend of Natsume's father, so he had to mix around a bit… I'm not sure what really happened between them, though. This may be a rumour."

"Sumire… you could say she's a little bit exaggerating." Tsubasa said with a sweat drop. "And obsessive. She might be really angry about his marriage, you know. And yes, you should be worried."

Mikan leaned against the wall and eyed on Natsume. "Hm… Why should I? We didn't get married because we're in love…."

X

Mikan was waiting in the car for Natsume. She got in first without waiting for him. Her husband then entered the car, feeling angry.

"Why didn't you wait for me?!" Natsume said. "Royal couple must leave together, no matter what happens, get it? That's the rule."

She lowered her head, "Okay…" He looked at the window, thinking of something. Mikan asked, "Err… About Sumire…"

"…" He moved his eyes on her with his stoned face. "What about her?"

"S-she…" _I… I can't ask him so suddenly! Think of an excuse…_ "She's really beautiful, right?" Mikan was shocked herself that she had just said that.

"…" He stared at her for a while, she averted from his gaze, "What an idiotic question…" Natsume folded his arms and said, "Are you jealous when I talked to her just now?"

"Heck no, why should I be jealous for?!" She raised her voice while blushing. "I was… impressed that she could dress up so simple but looking gorgeous."

"If you think that way, I don't care…" Natsume said, "You think a pretty lady like her would get me attracted? I'm not that low, polka dots…" His eyes fixed on her skirt.

"P-polka d-dots…" She looked down to her skirt, which was revealing at him. "Kyaa!! You pervert!!!" She exploded like a volcano while hiding her undies and he only smirked.

"Em… tomorrow we are to the King's palace…" Natsume said. "The ritual for Ruka and his mother will be starting on that day, so, you have to wear the traditional kimono."

"It's that fast?" She asked. "Ruka will become the second-in-line, right?" Natsume nodded. "… So, I'll be seeing him quite often then?"

He blinked, "Yeah, why? Feeling happy to see your cousin-in-law?"

"Jeez, at least I won't get bored when you're out doing work…" She pouted.

"…" He ignored her last sentence as the limousine moved on the roads. _Open your eyes wide, idiot! You didn't even know that he was engaged to you first, what a major idiot!_


	8. Chapter 8

Yuki: Well, heck yeah! Ruka's going to be pure evil here… Joking… Not so pure evil, but kind of nasty here… Anyway, you guys knew who'll soften him, so…. (meddling with her hair.) And yeah. Natsume's going to get jealous… A LOT!!

By the way, thanks everybody for your reviews… I'm really happy that this fiction of mine's worked well enough… I hope I could finish this fiction before I go to my residential college… Or else, it'll hang around chapter 10 onwards! (wails.)

Btw… guess what? I've already written until chapter 15, hahaha! (glares coming from everywhere, Yuki retreats.)

**Chapter 8: The Departure.**

The day has come for Ruka and his mother to be accepted in the palace once more. Serina was appointed as the second most powerful woman in the palace, next to Karin. Ruka's palace will be next to Natsume's because both of them are princes.

"Congratulations, Ruka-chan!" Mikan said seeing him in his palace. Ruka was playing games in the room, until he saw her.

He stopped playing games and said, "Hey, Mi-chan… Didn't expect you to see me…"

"Why not!" She said while sitting down on a chair. "Natsume's just busy with the world, I'm stuck here. So, I've decided to pay you a visit! I'm bored…"

He laughed, "So, I'm the kind of person who could make you feel occupied when you're bored?"

"Ah! I don't mean that way!! Don't get me wrong!" She took several steps towards him. "I didn't mean--"

"Yeah, I know. I was just kidding…" He brushed her face softly. Her cheeks redden and backed away.

She pointed outside, "R-Ruka-chan? Let's t-take a walk, shall we?"

"Do you remember what you said last night?" He asked, while he was grabbing her hand.

"L-last night? During the party?" She asked. He nodded. "About what?"

"A-about… your likeness towards Natsume. You were drunk because you accidentally drank the brandy…" He said with disappointment. "And… your love towards him was unreciprocated. You also said, if you had met me first, that love would come to me instead."

Her eyes widened. _D-did I say that… right in front of him!? W-what was I thinking?!!_ _I'm such an idiot!_ (a/n: Now she has finally gained her senses…)

"If only my father didn't pass away… or even after the coronation, we could have…" He paused and shook his head. "Come, let's so out for a walk…" Ruka walked side-by-side with her, after she asked him to let her hands off.

X

"E-eh?!" Tsubasa, who was drinking tea a while ago spurts it out… accidentally. "You want to rejoin this meeting group?" He wiped his mouth with a napkin.

Hotaru sat down on a chair and nodded. "So that I could take a good look on Mikan. She seemed pretty sad nowadays even though she doesn't show it."

Misaki frowned, "Let me guess, it's because of Sumire, right?"

Kaname took a slice of cake from a table. He sat down and continued Misaki's sentence, "What she said was right, Imai. You knew well of your brother, Subaru."

"Let him be. I said I'm returning to the palace, whether he likes it or not." She continued. "And yes, it's because of Mikan."

"Did you know…?" Misaki said, "Ruka and his mom were given higher status already?" Hotaru silenced in consent, "I'll take that as a yes. You were afraid of Natsume getting dethroned?"

"Look, Mikan's my best friend and I hope her to be good with Natsume. I don't like other party to come and destroy their life." Hotaru said. "Even though she doesn't need my help, I'm insisting it."

Tsubasa sighed, "Oh, man… You're a different person now, Hotaru. All right then. We'll be supporting you,"

X

A week later, Mikan received a call from her mother, asking how she was doing and everything. "Oh, hi mom…" Mikan called her cell phone inside her room while staring out at the window. "I'm fine… Yeah…"

Natsume was walking inside the opened door and saw her facing back with a cell phone. _It must've been her mom…_

"No, I'll be fine… Yes, Natsume's doing great with his work… How's dad? Oh… is that so…?" She replied, "Em, I'll take care. Bye mom…" She turned off her cell phone and sighed.

"I heard you cried for your mom last night…" He said, smirking.

She turned back, "N-Natsume! W-what are you doing here?"

"Seeing how my wife's doing…" He grinned, "Hey, am I keeping you captive or something?" She stared at him, in shock. "There are times when I look at you, who's constantly homesick; I want to send you home but…" He moved his eyes at her. "You can't forget your duties as the new queen. While I'm in the position as the new king, I want to do well, not becoming famous as the messy king…"

"W-wait… did you say 'while you're in the position as the'--"

"I…" Natsume said while tucking in his hands in his pockets, "I'm thinking of quitting the king's position."

X

Serina was having a meeting with the main royal family head in a room. She said, "I have no idea what happened to our new king…"

Mori stared at her, "What do you mean by that?"

"Just look at him…" Serina pointed out, "Always rebellious, grades aren't that high enough, causing troubles--"

"How dare you insult the Crown Prince Natsume, Serina-sama. Who are you to talk bad about him like that? Others did not complain anything so absurd--"

"It's because the three of you aren't paying attention to the things that was going on in the palace." Serina said. "Let's just see what happens…"

X

"N-Natsume…!"

He leaned on the table, shutting his eyes. "But if I retire now, everybody might think this act as a teenager rebellion. When I'm 20, they'll actually listen to what I have to say. If they wouldn't let me, I'll just go out and study overseas and not come back. Since they already have Ruka, he could replace me. And then…" He stared at his wife, looking shocked. "You could go away and leave this palace."

"W-what are you saying--"

"Therefore, to wait the years to come, you'll have to stay by my side and endure the pains." Natsume smirked and left a present. "This is from your friend, Kokoro. I'll have to leave." He exited her room.

_W-what is he thinking?! _She advanced towards the table and grabbed the present. Mikan only thought of Natsume for the whole day.

X

Ruka was walking along the compound until he met Natsume, leaving the Princess's quarters. He catches him up and said, "Morning."

"Hn…" He replied, "Meeting her so early in the morning?"

"I was just walking around." He stated. "By the way… Sumire's at your place right now…"

The amber eyes shounen fixed a glare on Ruka. "Why are you so busybody with my personal life? Are you expecting that idiot to turn to you instead of me?"

"Well, you should know better than I do, Natsume." Ruka said.

"Does it fill your compassion to see her being mistreated by me?" Natsume said. "Whatever you do, she's **mine** to do whatever I **want**. I'll excuse myself…" He walked away, leaving Ruka stunned.

After a minute standing on the pavement, Mikan came out and noticed him standing so solidly. "Hey, Ruka-chan!"

"Oh… Mikan." He snapped from his day dreaming.

"Anything bothering you? You looked spaced out." She asked.

"No…" Ruka replied, "I've seen Natsume rushing to his palace, I wonder why."

The auburn haired girl tried to read his mind, "Maybe he's doing his work…?"

"Not really, I saw Sumire entering the palace--" Ruka was cut off when Mikan rushed towards the Prince's palace. "W-wait!!"

_No way… He's meeting Sumire! As I expected, maybe the rumours are true, after all! Natsume… Why did you--_ She flung open the door and found a girl hugging a guy. It was Natsume and Sumire. Mikan's eye was lining in tears and ran away. Natsume, on the other hand, released himself from her and sighed.

"Huh…" He rested on a chair, with Sumire stroking his hair. "Leave me, I need to be alone."

"I went away only for a year and a half and these sorts of things happened." Sumire argued. "Why didn't you reject the marriage proposal?! I am your girlfriend."

"…" Natsume ruffled his hair, "Leave me for a while, Sumire." She left the room and walked away, leaving Natsume in confusion. "Why did I get so nervous when she sees me like this…?" His conscience said, _I lied to her so that she wouldn't get worried about me._

X

Mikan was on a swing, still in a petrified state after seeing the scene, where Natsume actually hugged Sumire so passionately... Or was it the other way round…? She shook her head to distort the image in her head, but her tears kept on flowing. Ruka catches her up and reached for Mikan.

"M-Mikan…" He said while panting. "That was fast…"

She rubbed her eyes and said, "Ruka… I… I'm so…" Her tears flowed harder. He embraced her tightly. "R-Ruka…?"

"Seriously… you were originally set up as Serina-sama's daughter-in-law…" He said in a low tone.

"W-what?" Mikan said, "W-what do you mean, Serina-sama's daughter-in-law?!"

He hugged her tightly, "No, never mind that… Don't cry… I'll be by your side."

"… Um…Thanks…" Mikan replied, "But…" She pushed him from the embrace while blushing. "It's not good if someone sees us like this, Ruka-chan. I'm the new queen…"

"…" Ruka muted for a while, "Yes, you're right." He sat next to her on another swing. "What… makes you so sad, Mikan?"

"He lied to me." She said angrily. "Liar… he's such a liar. A big liar."

He picked up a speed and swings, "Maybe…" A maid walked up to Mikan.

"Sakura-hime, the King and Queen have requested you to be in their palace now. Ruka-ouji too."

"… Okay…" Mikan replied. "Come, let's go Ruka." She stood up along with Ruka and headed to the palace. When they got in, Natsume, Serina and the rest are there. Mikan stared at him for a while and sat beside him.

Matsuda said, "Have you been packing your things already for England? Prince William will be coming here for a visit."

Mikan turned to Natsume, thinking. _W-what, he didn't even tell me that he's leaving for England?!_

"Yes, I have packed things already." Natsume replied. "But, this time… I'm thinking of bringing my wife along."

Ruka glowered at him, while Mikan was blushing. _H-he's bringing me along with him to England…! _(She totally forgot what he just did.)

"That's because I was extremely bored back in France. I regretted not bringing someone with me." Natsume said.

Matsuda was about to allow it but Serina interrupted, "Ohohoho… If you wouldn't mind, I would like to have Sakura-sama as my… companion. As you can see, I am lonely without a daughter-in-law beside me, so, I'm expecting Sakura-sama to stay here with me. What do you say, Sakura-sama?" She stared fiercely at Natsume and then to the tangerine girl. Mikan was stuttering to answer.

_What is she trying to do, that woman!_ Natsume frowned. "I'm her partner, so--"

"Natsume-ouji…" Serina said while covering her mouth with a fan. "To interrupt an elder's speaking or awaiting a response is rude." Natsume glared at her. "So, what shall it be?"

"I…I…" Mikan stuttered, while Natsume was furiously angered with Serina.

X

"What the hell!" Natsume blurted out his anger while throwing his jacket on the sofa. "She pressured her to the brink of tears just to extract a 'yes'…!!"

"P-please be calm, your Highness…" A maid said.

"Aren't you curious on how she'll torment a girl so artless like her?!" He looked at the window. "Where's my wife?"

"She is changing her clothes in her palace into a casual wear, Natsume-sama…"

He flashed back several minutes ago, remembering that Mikan was agreeing on accompanying Serina for a month and a half. "Such an idiot… Why did she…?"

X

In Ruka's room, Mikan was hanging around his place.

"I wonder… how it is like in London…" Mikan asked while she was playing with her hair.

"Weird, I thought you might've missed him, since he'll be parting apart from you…"

"Well… he did a mistake today, so, I don't care much!" She pouted.

"I'll try to visit you as often as I can, to play around when you got bored, all right?" He asked. "It'll be fun."

Mikan nodded. "I think so…" She lowered her head and fixed her eyes on the floor, thinking deeply.

He stood up, "I got to go. Serina-sama misses her son very much." Ruka smiled and got his shirt tugged from Mikan. "Huh?"

"W-would it be too much if I ask you to help me to go to England with Natsume, Ruka?" She asked.

Without her noticing, he frowned angrily and immediately returned normal. "What is this, Mikan? I'll hang around with you--"

"For me…" She cuts in, "I'm still unfamiliar about the palace. It's so lonely and suffocating here. I've been enduring it well when he was beside me. If not, I won't be able to stand up at all, Ruka…" She stared at him, with a confident look. "Please, help me, Ruka…"

He smirked and shook his head. "No one in this world could stop my mother… I'm sorry, but, I have to go. I can't help you…"

X

"I can't help it…" Natsume said, looking serious. "You were the stupid fool to say 'yes' just now." He said after opening the living room door and inviting Mikan in. He slumped himself on a couch, waiting for a reply from her.

She complained after taking a seat in front of him. "H-how could you expect me to say 'no'? She looked like some scary woman!!"

He stared at her, "I don't have any reasons to bring you to England, anyway…" She stunned for a minute after gulping a drink and concentrated her visions at him. "I heard you went straight to Ruka after you changed your clothes. I don't feel like bringing someone who flirts with her cousin-in-law…"

"I went there because--"

"I'm busy, leave now."

"I said I went to ask a favour!" She shouted. He turned back, in confusion. "I asked Ruka whether he could change Serina-sama's mind since he's her son…"

He marched towards Mikan, grabbed both of her arms and shook it, "Why are you depending on him like a bum for a favour?! Would you go around asking him to help you whenever you feel helpless?! Why didn't you ask me instead?! I could've asked for a pleading."

"I…. I'm sorry…" Mikan apologised.

He sighed, "Huh…" Natsume released his grip and sat back on his chair. "Look… I think I owed you an explanation about Sumire."

She lowered her head, "I knew it… The 'rumours' that you said earlier was a lie. She was your girlfriend. I can't believe it, you lied to me. It's really all right if you speak the truth but…"

_It's because I want to prevent further complications…_ Natsume thought. He said, "I didn't mean to lie, but, as you can see… Things got out of hand."

"…" Mikan silenced. "… So… you really want to get back with her after we divorced?"

Natsume's eyes widen, "Don't poke your nose into someone else's business."

She turned back and said, "Fine, I don't feel like going with you to London either!" She walked out and left him.

"…" He shuts his eyes and muttered, "Idiot…"


	9. Author's Desperado Note

This fiction could go on hiatus state…

I myself have no idea what to say. I will be leaving for my medicine training to somewhere far away. The date's like… 14th March 2007.

More like a residential college. But then again… what about this fiction!? Damn it, I can't just leave this on hiatus!

So far, I've written until chapter 15, but it's still ongoing! So… you guys…? What do you think? Give me some suggestions, or...

are you willing to wait for 6 months for my update? (That's nuts!) Darn it… Okay, let's see… 2 semesters…

Each semester they have holidays… So, I might write the ending of this story… how's that?

I would like to receive your comments about my problem here. But don't worry. Until the 14th May, I'll be updating quite fast, okay?

Yours Sincerely, Lina a.k.a Aihara-Yuki.


	10. Chapter 9

Yuki: Uh… all right then. Thanks for your reply. I'll keep updating until my time comes. I could finish about 6 months from that date because my dad's giving me a laptop. I could type out the ending back in the residential college. Hehe…

Anyway, here you go. The next chapter. Please enjoy and review!

**Chapter 9: Her Sufferings when He's Away.**

Mikan didn't get to see Natsume leaving for England. She was angered by his attitude, that's why. But her heart aches a lot every time she thought of Natsume. She loved him a lot, due to her loneliness and he was the only one who's always with her. Prince William arrived to Japan. Mikan was having problems communicating with the foreign prince, but a translator helped her. The three of them, Mikan, Ruka and William became good friends.

Mikan actually sent Natsume e-mails everyday, even though she knew that he is Sumire's boyfriend. Natsume checked his inbox nearly everyday too, but didn't reply her messages. He looked at her beautiful picture which was taken on top of Mountain Fuji along with William and Ruka. He frowned, "Looking so happy, I don't feel like sending an e-mail reply back…" He continued staring at her picture. "Hm…"

Back in her palace, she dialled Natsume's number in England, but couldn't reach him. She left a message to his secretary. "Why didn't he reply me…? I said I was sorry in the e-mail…" A knock was heard in her room. She opened it and saw her maid, Maika Katsuhiro. "Yes, what is it?"

"Serina-sama would like to have a talk with Mikan-sama right away…" Maika said while bowing down.

"I'll be there…" She changed to her kimono and went to the Queen's quarters. After the maids opened the sliding door, she entered and bowed to Serina. "I'm here, Serina-sama."

"Good, I've wanted to tell you something…" Serina moved her eyes on her. "You're the Crown Princess, right? Prince William is here for a work, not to play around with you when you got bored, Mikan-sama." Mikan looked away from her, sadly. "Just because your dearest husband is away doesn't mean that you could use him." She sipped her tea and added, "You're not even good in speaking English. What a disgrace for a new Queen like yourself. It's humiliating! Bringing a translator wherever you go with William-sama, what kind of an image are you bringing towards this country?!"

"I… I'm sorry…" She bowed.

"You're dismissed, you can leave now." Serina said with her high-pitched voice. Mikan bowed again and slowly opened the door.

To her surprise, Ruka was standing in front of her, looking worried. Mikan gave a nod and walked away. He laid his eyes on his mother's face. "Mother, what did you say to her?"

"Hohoho… I was doing my job, dear Ruka." Serina said with her evil eyes. "A useless princess like her should be thrown away from this palace. It brings a disgrace to this family."

"…" Ruka didn't say anything after that. He only thought of Mikan. _Poor Mikan… If only I was her husband…_

X

Back in London, Natsume was in Kate's party with his foreign friends. He could speak English really well.

"Natsume!" A white haired teenager called, "Look, all of the girls are watching you…"

"Hn… I know." He said, drinking a glass of juice. His head felt dizzy. "Joshua, are you sure these are non-alcoholic drinks?"

He showed him the bottle, "Yeah, of course. Why?"

"N-no, nothing…" He said, frowning to clear his vision.

"Eh, Natsume…" A blonde called, "Why don't you call your wife? She's a beautiful person, isn't she?"

"… Why should I? She would be fine all by her own." Natsume said. At a corner, an old man gave a smirk and dialled his cell phone.

Natsume returned to his suite after the party was over. He was wandering around and found a bodyguard waiting for him. "What is it?" He advanced further.

"There is a guest who would like to see you. She is waiting."

"… She?" Natsume asked. The bodyguard nodded and gave a way for him to pass. When he opened the door, he found Sumire Shouda waiting for him while sitting on a sofa. "… What a surprise… Sumire Shouda."

She went towards him, placing a hand on his cheek. "A-are you okay? You seemed to be pale…" He blushed a bit and moved his face from her hand.

"I'm not used to the foods here, that's all." He stated. "What are you doing here?"

"I had a meeting here in London. I was thinking that I should pay you a visit." Sumire said. "What, now I can't even see my own boyfriend after being forced to marry a girl whom you don't even like?"

Natsume moved to the window and muted, "……"

X

"Everything's going on good, Serina-sama." The old man said on the cell phone.

"_Good, let me remind you once more. Make him to use violence… clear?" Serina replied._

"Yes, Serina-sama. Leave everything in London to me." He said with hoarse tone. "Within a short period, your dream will be achieved."

"_I'm glad." She said._

X

Hotaru and Misaki went to take a look on Mikan; unfortunately, she went out for a meeting with the Ministry of Education. They were walking along the road until they met Ruka, who's looking furious.

"Hey…" Hotaru called. "Ruka."

He looked up and smiled, "Oh, Imai and Harada-senpai."

Misaki waved and went up to him. "Looking angry?"

"Ah, no. I was thinking of something." Ruka changed his facial expression. "Oh, Tsubasa was looking for you. He's starting the band practice now."

"H-he is?!!!" Misaki raised her voice. "Ah, Hotaru-chan! I'll have to go!!" She dashed off to the opposite direction.

"…" Hotaru eyed him carefully from head to toe and finally said, "Mikan. It's about her, isn't it? Mikan?"

He was startled, "H-how did you know?!"

"With that kind of look on your face, everybody would've known." Hotaru said.

He blushed, "Oh… right."

X

Few days later, Mikan was in the restroom in her school. As she was about to go out of the toilet, she heard a group of girls chattering about her near the basin area. She listened attentively after hearing her name mentioned in the conversation.

"That Mikan, I tell you… She's one idiotic girl I've ever met." A girl said. "She thinks she's special, really. A bodyguard and an expensive luxury car to go to school with. That girl used to nag over 500 yen, saying that she was broke. Aren't you irritated someone like her as the new queen?"

"Yeah, it's a relief not being stuck with her in the same class, looking at her annoying face every morning." Another girl said, "How can an academic retard and ugly girl like her could seduce the prince?!"

Another girl said, "Hey, don't say like that… Someone could hear you guys out!!"

"All right, let's go back." All of them said in unison.

Mikan was stunned, hearing those words from them. She went out of the toilet and splashed cool water on her face. Her eyes lined in tears. _The only person who can comfort me is…_ She opened her cell phone and dialled a number. "Em, hello… Is Natsume in?"

"_Oh, I'm sorry, my Princess. He went out with Prince Harry to a party…"_

"D-does he know that I called him several times?"

"_Oh, yes. I informed him already. But, I think he slipped his mind about it… He was busy and I don't think he has the time calling back. He has been leaving his cell phone recently and… H-hello? Hello? Princess?"_ At that moment, she threw the cell phone towards the wall and cried.

X

"Are you sure about this, Imai…" Ruka asked, reconfirming.

Hotaru hugged the puppy and nodded. "She likes something that could distract her attention. A puppy might work…"

"Yeah, I know that it would but," Ruka said, "Dogs are not allowed in the palace… If my mother knew about this…"

Hotaru stroked the puppy's fur and said, "It's not yet an adult."

"… Well, I'll try to hide it from my mother, then." He said while he received the puppy from Hotaru. "You're really a good friend, Imai."

She placed both of her hands on her hips, "Hm… you liked her that much even though she's married?"

"… She was stolen from me…" Ruka said with his angered eyes. "I was kicked out of the castle all of a sudden, after my father passed away. How could I not be jealous?"

She shook her head, "That's a wrong move, Ruka. I think you should find a new partner, not stealing it from someone who's already married to her." He frowned, as a sign of annoyance. "I'm just telling you that, it's up to you to follow." She walked down the hill towards the Crown Princess's quarters. "It's wiser if you go to her personally." _I'll just see what will happen for a meantime…_

He watched as she stepped away to the Royal Student Meeting's quarters. Ruka took several steps ahead and saw Mikan on a chair, outside her room. He sat next to her and handed the puppy, "For you."

She was stunned to see a cute puppy from Ruka. Mikan accepted it and smiled happily, "Oh, Ruka! Thanks a lot! I… I'm so happy!"

"Yeah, I thought it would." He smiled. "This is nothing for a former fiancée."

She stopped from stroking the puppy and slowly moved her eyes at him, "W-what?"

"I've dropped so many hints…" He sighed as she enlarged her eyes. "The first person whom you got engaged with was not Natsume, but me…" Mikan hugged the puppy tighter. "Though it was changed due to my father's death… But, please remember even though it didn't work out in the end."

_W-what?! I-is he talking the truth?_ She stared at him, as he walked off to his palace.

X

A month has passed by; Mikan's losing her weight drastically, worrying everybody in the palace. The maids were worrying a lot for her.

"Mikan-hime…" said Lady Otonashi, "You're losing weight again…" She checked the weight scale and shook her head. "That's 7 kilogrammes, in a month. I'm afraid you're nearly anorexic… I'll be in a deep trouble if Natsume-ouji finds out."

Mikan stepped down from the weighing scale and said, "Natsume's not the kind of person who would care of my health, anyway…" She sat next to Otonashi, "Otonashi-sama, by any chance, was Ruka-sama and I..."

"Yes, what is it?" Otonashi said while combing her hair.

"Um… nothing…" She shook her head.

"After this, you'll drink a medicinal ginseng from Korea. It'll gain your strength back." Otonashi added.

Mikan said, "Ah… I'm sick of drinking herbs…" She laid on Otonashi's lap. "Otonashi-sama… I miss my mom… dad… gramps… and also, Natsume…"

_Poor thing, to be a princess at such a young age when Serina-sama bothers her so… She's so lonely and has no one to talk to her…_ She patted her arm, "You must be strong, Mikan-hime. Your body is not your own. You are to become an Empress."

Mikan blinked, "W-what?"

"Originally, the position of a princess was to train to become the future Empress. In near future, you would become an Empress who would help the lineage of the crown." The teenager immediately sat up straight.

"H-help the l-lineage of the crown… So, that means…" She paused to think, and blurted out. "I-I'm going to become a baby's mother!?!"

"Well, the term of 'baby's mother' is weird, but… It's close to that. When you two reach the age, the citizen will be awaiting for the birth of your child… Hohoho, the birth rate of the royalty is quite fast, you know… and you are to move to another palace in Kyoto. It'll be personally for you two."

"D-don't say like that while laughing!!" She said while blushing. _Even though I liked him, I might get divorced before I become an adult…_ "B-but… a palace in Kyoto? Really…" She blushed when she thought of moving in a palace with Natsume.

X

"Y-you're saying…" Natsume said while facing to the police, "That I brought drugs here?! Are you crazy?!"

"These were found in your bag…" A police showed him a packet of white substance. "Someone found these in a bag and not knowing whose it was, he handed it to the police. But, we found your fingerprints on the bags… Of course we didn't suspect you, your Highness… So, please co-operate with us."

"Where's Rei?" Natsume asked his bodyguards, in Japanese. "That white haired old man, where's he?"

"We didn't find him everywhere. We're trying to reach him by the phone, right now."

"…" Natsume thought for a while. "He disappeared when the cops showed up… Vanishing at a time like this is inappropriate for a chief secretary to do…" He sensed something was wrong and remembered of Serina. "Look, cops. I was not in the right mind either. Rei was in charge of my possessions, so, we'll just wait for him to come back."

X

"That's absurd!" Matsuda said while banging his fist on the table. "Natsume, bringing in drugs, to England?!"

"I'm afraid it's like that, your Highness…" Said a man with glasses. "Even Natsume-ouji was investigated back in the Buckingham palace…"

"I-is there any progress of the investigation?" Karin asked, anxiously.

"No, because there were so many people during the party… I shall inform your Highness after I received a report." He excused himself.

Karin raised her voice, "Natsume-ouji would never do that, Matsuda-sama. I'm sure of it!"

"I know… How could he get his hands on so many drugs like marijuana…?" He said, wide-eyed. "It looks like Natsume's enemy has showed up."

Karin's eyes looked shocked at his words. "M-Matsuda…"

"For a future Emperor to have enemies, it will harm his position as the king of this country, Karin-sama."

"A-are you saying…" Karin asked, "That you would give the throne to Ruka, instead?"

"It is possible, Karin." He stared at her seriously, "It is possible,"

X


	11. Chapter 10

Yuki: Here you go! The next chappie. Please review, ne? (grins) Oh yeah... for your info, some spellings and grammar I used is British language, so it's different than American's.

**Chapter 10: ****The Scandal.**

The Crown Prince came back from the Buckingham palace after apologising to Queen Elizabeth about putting the palace in an uncomfortable state for a meantime. He was walking inside the hotel lobby until someone called him. "Natsume-sama…" A bespectacled man called. "We have found Rei… And I have something to talk about Rei, my Highness."

Natsume turned and said, "What is it?"

"I heard that Rei and Serina-sama have been quite close."

He frowned, "So what? I heard aunt has a lot of acquaintances in the British Royal household…"

The man started to look serious, "But… when she recommended you the chief secretary Rei, the undergoing process was weird. And I'm not sure if I should tell you this but, when it was the first time she came here, she presented a bouquet of lily to the Queen of England. If the servants wouldn't gotten to it first, a grave accident would occur. The lily represents 'death' in this place. I'm not sure whether she knew and sent it…"

Natsume said, "All right then…" He left and walked to Rei, who was looking suspicious. "Where were you all this while, Rei? A chief secretary doesn't go around the city without me."

"I've been running around to prevent his news from spreading. I've stopped the head reporter."

"…It'll be all right if **someone **doesn't leak out the story back in Japan…" Natsume turned his back. Rei stared at him, with frightened expression. "Serina, that woman…"

X

"Are you crazy or what!!!? What did you say?!" Serina boomed out loud while she was standing in front of his son. She was having a nice little chat with her son in her palace, until she heard that…

"Yes, I love Mikan." Ruka said in a relaxed tone.

Serina argued, "She is your cousin-in-law, your cousin's wife--"

"She **was **my betrothed. She **was** stolen from me." Ruka said.

"I was so relieved when I found out that child **was not** married to you after your father's death. B-but now…" She said facing him, "You said what?! You **loved** her?! What is that nonsense!!!?"

"It's strange…" Ruka said. "The more you hate her, the more I get to love her deeply…"

"Ruka! Stop this nonsense!" Serina shouted.

X

The next day, a servant attended to Karin's palace, informing something.

"W-what? Ruka-sama was in the Crown Princess's palace?" She paused from wearing her earrings and stared at her maid, in disbelief.

"Yes," the servant said, "I think he went there to accompany her."

"What was he thinking? He's the second-in-line. He must be at the main palace while Natsume's away…" Karin said. "Instead, he went to her palace, alone!"

"They're the same age, Karin-sama." The maid said. "They're like siblings and maybe he felt pity of her for being so lonely."

Karin closed her jewellery box. _Surely not… Don't tell me… does he…_

X

"What do you mean by that, Rei?" Serina called him through her cell phone.

"_I'm afraid that the Queen__ Elizabeth has taken care of it. This incident was proven that it has nothing to do with Natsume-sama. The reporters are not allowed to pick any gossips from the royalties…"_

"Fine then…"

"_The drink that he drank was proven that it has illegal substances in it… But, I have other things in mind, Serina-sama. A new way to bring him down…"_

X

"Oh, hey William." Mikan waved at him, with Ruka beside her to translate. "How are you?"

"Yeah, are you used to this place?" Ruka asked.

William smiled, "Yeah, I'm doing fine! I felt like not going back to my hometown, haha… Em…" He suddenly looked serious. "I have news to tell…"

After a minute of explanation, Mikan shouted, "**N-Natsume did what?!!**"

"W-well, you'll hear the rest later, Mikan-hime." William said. "I do have someone in my mind, but I don't have the evidence to proof it. I'm not telling you deeply; maybe you might get a heart-attack later."

_It must've been mom's doing…_ Ruka thought deeply.

"H-how is he doing??" Mikan asked.

"He's fine; he'll be back this evening. " William said. "Don't worry, Mikan-hime. I'm sure he would tell you the details later."

X

Maika repeated, "Mikan-sama, your husband is around this place. Wouldn't it better if you greet him? He is your husband…"

"She's right. You didn't even see him during the send-off, Mikan-sama…" Otonashi said. Mikan was under the covers, refusing to go.

"I don't want to. Wake me up when the dinner's time." Mikan said. "Leave me, please…" Maika and Otonashi bowed and closed the door.

**Flashback…**

"_I'm sorry, Mikan-hime. Maybe because of that drug incident, he was busy and was unable to contact you."_

"_He was distracted with his problems in London. That's probably why…"_

"_I informed him to call you but his mind slipped, Mikan-hime."_

**End of Flashback…**

Mikan stood up and opened the door. "You really lack patience, Mikan…" She said to herself. She sneaked to the Prince's quarters. While she was in the woods, she heard a cracking noise. She turned her head to see who was behind him. It was Natsume. Her eyes extended and gaped at him.

He tilted his head to the right and said, "What have you done to yourself…? You're all skin and bones… Are you here to meet me? Let me take a--" He wanted to take a step closer, but…

"Don't you even dare, taking a step forward… Y-you… you jerk…!!" She cried. He stared at her for a second.

"I'm heart broken, you know…" He said, sarcastically. "Telling your husband whom you didn't see for a long time not to come any closer?"

"Y-you're really despicable…" She said, taking a step ahead every time she talks. "You're selfish, arrogant, and cold-hearted. You step on other people's heart like a chewing gum… You're the most despicable person I've ever met… but…" She tugged his jacket, "I've missed you so much…" She hugged him.

_What shall I act at a time like this…?__ I didn't expect this to happen… _Natsume thought while blushing. _She's hugging me so tight… S-should I hug her too?_ He placed his arms around her, doubtfully. He whispered in his heart. _Anyway, it would've been great if you went with me._

X

At the grandmother's palace, Natsume, Karin and Serina was there. His granny, Minami asked, "How was your trip, Natsume-sama?"

"Yes, I've returned early because I've missed you, grandmother." He said while bowing.

"Are you sure you missed me, or your wife?" Minami teased with a fan covering her face. "Anyway, her condition is not good, Natsume-ouji…"

Karin creased her brows, "Her health is not good. She has been getting comprehensive medical testing back in the royal hospital…"

Natsume closed his eyes for a while. _What's her problem…?_

"By the way…" Serina asked, "I've heard you had a lot of hardships back in London."

He glared at her, intently. "Yes, I did. Looks like someone pulled a dirty prank…"

"You should be more careful, Natsume-ouji. Luckily the press didn't know about your problem." She said.

"However, it'll be all right." He said confidently. "As long as someone keeps quiet." He took leave and Serina stared at him.

_He's just like Matsuda when he was younger…_ Serina felt scared suddenly. _He might have a scarier side of him that I thought he wouldn't have..._

X

Mikan was in her room, wrapping herself with blanket due to the cold weather. Winter season has arrived. She took another thick blanket and tried to sleep. But, she couldn't. Her heart beats faster when she remembered how Natsume hugged her. Her face reddened and it made her body felt warmer.

"Thinking something perverted?" A voice called. She opened her eyes and found Natsume standing in front her with his hands inside his pocket. "… Hm…?"

"Look, I'm sick right now…" She complained. "I went out and greeted you without wearing any cloak…"

He smirked and sat beside her. "Really… You're so childish…" He felt her forehead with his hand. "A fever? Idiot…"

"Natsume…?" She called for him. He looked at her. "Was I promised to be married to Ruka?"

His eyes widened, "……" Natsume said, "The promise between our grandfathers was that, you will be the wife of the grandchild who will be the future king. At that time, the child was Ruka. That's right; you were supposed to be his bride."

"Oh… so it was true." She said. "I couldn't help but to feel bad and I couldn't confront him well."

He looked away from her, "He might have treated you well if he's married to you. Isn't he known as the man of manners? But, it--" He was interrupted with her words.

She said while closing her eyes. "Natsume, welcome home…" Mikan dozed off.

He blushed and said, "Don't talk those sappy lines… Hm…" _Maika and Otonashi said you lose 7 kilogrammes... And not wanting to take any medicine. What is troubling you so??_ Natsume placed his arms on her bedside and slept there.

X

"Natsume-ouji!!" Karin came in with a newspaper in her hands. She entered his room, where he was talking with Mikan several days later. She slammed the table with the British newspaper. "Tell me, is this true?! Natsume-sama, you have to be careful with what you're doing! Everybody will be watching you and there are a lot of things lurking around. Come to my palace after this!" She stormed away outside.

Natsume reached for the newspaper with his fingers. After a look, he sighed. Mikan, who was curious as well, took a look. "What makes Karin-sama to be so angry like that? What kind of--" Her eyes fixed on the headline, 'Third party?' A picture of Natsume and Sumire coming out of the hotel together. "Y-you two met… at London…?"

He stared at her, "She was having a meeting at the same time, so she paid me a visit. And she was in the same hotel as me."

"……" Mikan was disturbed whenever Sumire's around him.

"Why do I have to report this to you anyway?" He said coldly. "I was having a crisis back in London, I was thankful enough someone was there to hear me out. Do you need more explanation?"

She turned to him, "What's with your attitude…? Am I in the position where I can't be curious about a picture that you're in?"

"I… I don't like it when you worry…" He stated. "Back off, you should concentrate on getting your health back."

"I'm healthy right now, so, why don't you back off…" She said, frowning.

He grasped her wrist and yelled, "This wrist's as thin as mosquito's and don't worry?! Everybody was worried sick about you! What on earth makes you worried so much that you can't even eat?!"

She took her hand from him. "You don't need to know why I'm worried." Mikan faced him, "For a person who thinks that it's not appropriate for me to ask about a picture, why would you even care whether I die or wither away in hunger?" She headed to the door, "I've been so stupid, I was feeling all sick thinking about you and was waiting for your arrival… I can't even concentrate on things properly. I felt so sorry for myself right now." She left the room, leaving him in agony.

X

The rumour about Natsume and Sumire grew out of proportion. It was spreading wildly and it is a famous gossip, especially among the teenagers. Hence, it has become the point of criticism. The Royal household's position was getting in a deep trouble nowadays.

Mikan was walking in her school corridors until she saw a dark green haired girl walking past her. She recognised the face and called, "Are you, Sumire?"

The girl stopped walking and turned her head, "Yes… Oh, you're that girl."

"Could we… have a talk?" Mikan asked. From a far corner, Hotaru was eyeing on them and went to Natsume's class.

Hotaru rushed towards the passageway and reached at his class. She went up to him and said, "Mikan's having a talk with your girlfriend. Stop them, will you…?"

"……" He muted, "It's so obvious what that idiot will do." He ignored Hotaru, who was feeling angry with his attitude.

Back to Mikan's situation, the princess started first. "The rumours tend to dissipate quickly. I mean, don't worry about all the stories people made up. You'd just stopped by in London--"

"Wait… I didn't really stop by…" Sumire cuts in. "Meeting him was my objective from the first. Since you two have been going here and there together, I have no time to talk to him also. Seeing him happy to see me back in England after the ordeal was great. I'm here to take a good look at him, even though I'm in different school. And why do I feel like I'm a mistress, after hearing what you said just now?"

"W-what are you saying…?" Mikan paused from talking and held her head. Her visions started to blur. "S-Sumire…?"

"H-hey, what's wrong with you…?!" Sumire said. "Hey…!!"

"I… I'm sorry, but… we'll have this talk later…" Mikan started to walk but she was staggering, and then, she collapsed on her.

The homeroom teacher, Misaki-sensei rushed to the announcing room and grabbed the microphone. "Emergency, emergency. Natsume Hyuuga, class 3-B, your wife has fainted. Please be at the school's compound as soon as possible. I repeat…"

Natsume, who was writing on his book, stood up immediately with his eyes open wide. "M-Mikan!" He rushed outside his classroom and ran downstairs. He zoomed outside of the building and saw a group of people.

"Oh my God!!" A girl panicked, "Mikan fainted!! W-what should we do, sensei!!?"

Kitsuneme looked worried, "She's anorexic… Oh my… Should we call the ambulance??"

He made his way through the crowd and saw Mikan being escorted with 2 bodyguards. "W-what happened?!!" Natsume came in front of his sensei, who was escorting Mikan.

"Natsume-sama, I'm not sure myself. We came here as soon as possible…" A sensei explained.

"N-no, I'm a-all right… I… I--" She collapsed again, but this time, Natsume managed to grab her by the waist. He wrapped his arm around her waist and another arm supporting her head. He brushed her hair slightly. Natsume stared upon her pale expression. It worried him to death.

Sumire was walking behind him, "Look, it happened like this--"

"There's no time, sensei. I'll bring her to the hospital since this is not so serious." He said worriedly.

His sensei nodded. "Yes, you may leave." Natsume carefully brought Mikan in the car and told the driver to go to the hospital.

Sumire stared as the car drove away. She looked down, with her tears on the ground. Everybody was talking…

"I… I thought Natsume-sama was having a fight with Mikan… But…" Anna said.

"Yeah, by the looks of it, he really cared for her, huh? That's cute…" Nonoko adored.

"Hey, look…" said a girl pointing to Sumire. "What's she doing here?? I thought she's in different school?"

Sumire thought, _he didn't even look at me… He just… ignored me!_ Her tears flowed.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Sleeping in a Room.**

Natsume has been waiting for her to wake up for 5 days already. She didn't wake up at all. He was feeling scared that something might have happened to her. But, he remembered the doctor saying that she was tired because she did not have enough nutrition and sleep. He couldn't sleep well these days either.

One day, when he was staring at the window, Mikan yawned and rubbed her eyes. She saw him looking worried. _Natsume…y-you're here...  
_

He sensed that she had just woken up, so he turned his head to check. His face lit up when he saw her sitting down. "M-Mikan… you've woken up…"

She blushed because it was the first time in 9 months; he called her by her name. She looked downwards and nodded, "Mm… yeah."

"Are you hungry? You haven't eaten for days…" He asked. She shook her head. "Why don't you eat…? What should I do…?" He placed his hand on her head, looking abnormally sad, which surprised her.

"……" Mikan muted. The door swung open and Yuka dashed inside, hugging Mikan. "M-mom!!" She hugged her back, crying loudly.

"A-are you all right??" Her mother asked her poor baby. Natsume stared at both of them talking and exited. Mikan nodded. "Your dad will be here in a minute. He was trying to find a parking space… Grandfather too…" She hugged her. "Oh dear… I was so scared when I heard you fainted and all the gossips that happened."

Back to Natsume, he was waiting outside when Narumi came with his father. The blonde asked, "How is she?"

"… She's fine…" Natsume replied. "Your wife's looking after her now." Both of them sighed in relief.

"I've been thinking, Natsume-san…" Narumi said, as he took a seat next to him. "Wouldn't it be better if she could stay in our house for only a week? It'll be better if she could…"

Natsume lowered his head. The grandfather said, "Yes, it would be wiser if she could at least stay at our place… Natsume--"

"I'm sorry, I can't do that." He replied. "If she would go there, she might get better. I meant, she will. But, when she comes back to the palace, she'll be sick. I can't allow that to happen."

"B-but that is--"

"I am surrounded with very complicated matters. The Lady in the house is much needed."

"T-the Empress already granted permission--"

"Father-in-law, she's my wife. I learned that all the matters that involve her are decided by me. Even if the Emperor allows that, when I said no… It's final. Her guardian is not you, father-in-law, but me." Yuka heard everything after she left the room.

Narumi lowered his head and nodded, "I… understand."

X

He entered the room after seeing off his in-laws. Natsume sensed that Mikan overheard his conversation with her family. He sighed and said, "Your mother was called by granny to the palace…"

Mikan gripped her blanket tightly and shouted, "W-why did you talk like that to my dad and my grandfather?! They're just asking a favour due to my condition!!"

He looked at her for a second and mouthed out, "I'll have to put a stop for something that's not possible from the start. If you were to go back there, you would want to go back there again. Then I'll get annoyed." He tucked in his hands inside his pockets. "My schedule will be tight starting from tomorrow, so it'll be hard for me to grant your permissions for every little thing, since the princess is needed."

She stared at him in disbelief, "P-permission? Why do I have to ask for a permission from you!?"

He smirked and drew nearer towards her and sat down on her bed. "I think you misunderstood with the principle of the equality between man and woman." He stood up back. "The wife had to listen to the husband's words, or else…" Natsume advanced to the door and said, "Make sure you eat this time. I don't like hearing complaints about you. I'm going now…" He exited, leaving her to cry.

Natsume leaned against the wall while covering his eyes with his right palm, thinking back her happy days in her house. He shook his head and thought, _One thing… Just one thing crosses my mind. If you were to leave the palace to have a good time there… Then, you would clearly never come back to the palace anymore._

X

Everybody gathered at Minami's place, where Karin, Serina, and Yuka were invited inside there. Minami's illness, diabetic, stabilised today and she had a lot of energy to talk about Mikan's condition. When everybody gathered, she said, "I called all of you especially for Mikan's sake. As she was unable to eat properly, I have called Konoe-san the lady who's in charge of the royal kitchen." She showed them an elderly woman about the same age of Kana herself, walking inside the room through the backdoor.

Konoe bowed to them and said, "I was called here due to her resistance to eat."

"I have also invited Yuka-san here today…" Kana said while looking at Yuka. "I guess it'll be good enough if she could tell us on how to cook Mikan-hime's favourite foods."

"…" Konoe paused for a second and said, "Mikan-hime's habit of eating is not because of foods, Kana-sama."

Serina said, deniably. "No, it's not because of the food. Of course we didn't mean that the food is bad tasted or anything like that, but, at least we could make the food taste better? I think she might eat them…"

"From what I remember for the past 60 years serving in the palace, the three of you was having the same condition just like Mikan-hime. Don't you remember at all?" Konoe asked. The three of them looked at each other.

Karin commented, "I don't remember at all… Was I like that before? I can't recall being in that state…"

Serina agreed, "Yeah, same here. I have no idea…"

"Me too?" Minami asked while pointing to herself. "Are you sure, Konoe-san?"

Konoe smirked, "Yes, I'm sure of it. Mikan-sama's illness is not from the body but from the loneliness of her heart."

Karin frowned, "L-loneliness? There are so many people around her, why would she feel lonely about?"

"I'm afraid that they are not happily married." Konoe said shortly.

"Uh-huh, that's harsh…" Minami said. "How can you say such things about them so outspokenly?"

Konoe lowered her head, "Even if there are thousands of people around her, what good will it bring? We must make those two live as a happily married couple."

"Look, how can we intentionally make those two to work out that well?" Karin asked worriedly.

"In my 60 years of experience working here, I found out that… heal the illness of the heart with the body and the illness of the body with the heart. In short…" She paused and said, "Natsume-sama and Mikan-sama must sleep in a bedroom at once." Everybody stunned for several minutes.

Yuka broke the ice, "I… I meant, what do you mean by one bed? They've just turned barely 18 years old…!"

"Why are you talking about this matter when we're having a discussion about Mikan-hime's health?" Karin asked. "Explain yourself."

Konoe smiled and said calmly, "After looking at the three of you after getting married, your condition was the same thing just like Mikan-hime. You didn't eat well, lose weight, and your menstrual cycles weren't normal. You weren't able to adjust the life in the palace, until you were told to share a room, don't you remember that?"

Serina thought, _O-of course… The early bridal night… I was 18 years old and they'd advised me to share a room…_

Karin cupped her own chin and nodded. _Yeah… the feelings of awkwardness disappeared too…_

Minami stared at Konoe for a second to think, _I was sixteen then, when the country was in a confused state to find an heir for the throne… What she said was true but…_

"I'm sure when they experienced the same thing just like the three of you did, Mikan-hime's health would gradually increase for the better. I heard when they spent a month back at her house; nothing happened right, Yuka-san?"

Yuka moved her eyes towards Konoe and nodded, "Yes, nothing happened…"

Konoe continued after Yuka finished her sentence, "As you can see, the atmosphere of the bridal night is different compared to a normal night together, So, it is advisable for them to share a room as soon as possible before her health worsen."

X

Mikan was drinking a glass of water all this while in the hospital. The smell of medicine in the building made her mind fuzzy and complicated. She has no appetite on eating at all. The worried ex-fiancé knocked the door and entered. She saw him coming in with a basket of fruits on his hand. With a smile, she greeted him.

He placed the basket on her lap and said, "Are you feeling weird after I told you about that unaccomplished engagement?"

"Em… yeah. Maybe a little." Mikan blushed red. "So… anything's up?"

"Em… the new arrangement of classrooms for the second semester was held today. I'll be your classmate again, funny huh?"

"Maybe it's due to our ranks…" She said with a sweat drop. He only nodded.

He stared at her for a while and said, "Natsume was requested by the Principal that he should be in the same class with you--"

"R-really?" Mikan said, wide-eyed. "So, that was the rumour I heard… I didn't know it was true, though!"

He frowned but quickly smiled, "How do you feel to share a classroom with Natsume?"

"I… I don't know…" She blushed while looking at him.

"He said he would like to go to another class." Ruka's words penetrated her mind deeply, hurting her.

She steered her eyes on the basket full with fruits and replied, "Oh… really…?" She thought silently in her mind. _Yeah, I admit that I was angry for what he said to my father but… I felt happy somehow… if we're able to go to school together, eat lunch together, and going back to school together… Was I asking too much from Natsume to have his heart solely for myself…?_

X

Natsume and Mikan were inside the old Queen's palace, Minami's. Karin was there to accompany her. He sat down next to his wife. The temperature of the room was warm even though the temperature outside the palace is about -5 Celsius.

Minami smiled and said, "I'm glad that you're healthier, Mikan-hime. I was worried about you for a long time…"

"Natsume-ouji, I'm sure you have heard of Konoe-san from the Royal Kitchen…?" Karin asked.

He moved his eyes from Mikan's awful state and nodded when his eyes met his mother's. "Yes, I heard of her. However…?"

Minami said, "Due to her age, she knew things that go around the palace, almost everything. When I was the princess at my time, I relied on her help on so many things. I was worried about Mikan-hime's health, so, I sought for her advice. Hohoho, and she advised the two of you to share a room at once."

Out of the blue, Mikan stared at her grandmother-in-law for a minute or two and saw Natsume frowning. He said, "Grandmother, you've got to be serious…" He said pointing to Mikan who was pale and tinted with a shade of pink on her cheeks. "Look at her face, she already turned white. If you kept on insisting it, grandmother, our relationship will become more and more awkward."

"Oh, yes. I understand, Natsume-sama." Minami said with a sly grin. "But it wouldn't hurt if you two share a room, right?"

"G-grandmother!" He retaliated. "We're still under aged."

She nodded, "Okay, okay. I know… I know…"

Mikan swivelled her eyes at Natsume, _I… Impossible… W-with that guy…?_

_With that… kid?!_ He slightly blushed and met her eyes. They instantaneously looked away from each other with darker shades of red.

X

Ruka shouted at his mother with the news she presented. "W-what did you say?! Sharing a room?!"

His mother was sipping on a cup of iced lemon tea. She hummed as a 'yes'. "Your grandmother has already selected the lucky day for the bridal night, my son. Although the date was kept secret from anyone, they would eventually share a room. They would try any means to get those two together no matter what, Ruka."

"H-how could they… They're barely eighteen yet…" He placed his hand on his forehead, thinking what may happen. "E-even though they're married… I…"

Serina brushed her hand on his face. "Don't worry, my dear son. I will find a girl--"

He retreated from her and shook his head, "I hate this place… How could they force her into this kind of situation in order to protect the dignity of the palace?!" He ran out of her palace and slammed the door shut.

"Ruka…" Serina stared at the door which he exited. She slumped into her chair. "C-could it be… that your feelings are true…?"

X

Mikan gazed in the mirror as four maids helped her to wear a kimono dress. It was complicated enough for her. It required many maids just to help her. The kimono has 7 layers of silk cloths underneath the outer layer. Her hair was braided and accessorised with all sorts of hair clips. She looked stunningly an authentic Japanese beauty when she was dressed up like this. The maids were giggling as they were working on her. After an hour of tiring makeover, Mikan finally said.

"Is there any special guest arriving? A foreigner?" She asked as she was looking at herself in the long mirror. "It's 12 midnight, Maika. Where are we going?"

Maika only smiled, "Oh, I forgot to tell you this…" She said while pointing to a small palace across the princess's palace. "See that palace? You'll be sleeping there for today. The heater in this room is spoilt, so, you can't sleep here."

Mikan looked confused and only nodded. She was sent inside the room. After the maids closed the doors, little does she realise that the scenery in the bedroom was peculiar. _W-wait a second… What's with the alcohol and the food on the table…? Why's there a candlestick here? And… the futon… It's…_ Her eyes widened. She remembered this scene before in the television while watching a historical drama with her mom.

A voice interrupted her thinking. "What is this…? Why am I brought here with this outfit…? It's so late at night and cold, what kind of special guest is here…?" The door opened, it was Natsume in a black suit. His eyes were concentrated on Mikan, who was sitting down on a floor looking shocked. "Why are you here…?! And, what's with the dress…?!" He looked around the room and gasped. _Shoot, this is a--_

The doors were closed shut and was locked from outside. Natsume realised that this maybe his grandmother's doing, so, he banged the glass sliding door. "Open up!" He demanded. "What do you think you're doing, imprisoning the prince in such a small room, open up!"

"I'm sorry…" called a maid from outside. "We're just following orders…"

"T-that's absurd! Open up or else I--" He stopped after hearing scratches from his back. He turned to see Mikan struggling to open the windows to get out of this room. He smirked and said, "Hey, idiot… It's glass window now… The replaced it every winter." He opened his jacket. "They'd probably locked all the doors in this room, if the orders came from grandmother."

She stopped from scratching the window and dropped to her knees. "N-no way… This can't be happening…" She felt the cold tile floors with her hands. "H-hey, Natsume… Is it just me or is this tile getting colder??"

He paused from taking off his necktie. "Hm…?" He ducked down and touched the tile. "You're right… It's like a block of ice… Smart enough to use a tiled floor…" He walked towards the futon and took out the thick blanket. "Luckily there's a thermos mat on the futon as well as the—" He gasped when he saw the futon's size. "For one person only?!"

Mikan's eyes widened when she saw the futon which fits barely for 2 people. "W-what are they doing?!" She could not believe that she was actually in this type of situation. She had prayed all day and night at the shrine for this type of event not to be occurred, but… it seems unavoidable since they are legally married...

He folded his arms and smirked. "Smart people… They used their heads this time… Trying to make us together in this condition?" He slid under the futon and stared at her doubtful expression. "I don't think you would sleep on the cold tile… right? It's the coldest month in the year." Natsume comfortably went inside the warm futon covers. "Come in, or you'll be just like the tiles."

X


	13. Chapter 12

Yuki: Kinda late update but it will do for now since I'm so busyyyy!! Huh, thanks for all your reviews!! I'm so happy.**  
**

**Chapter 12: Awkward Feelings Towards Her?**

Mikan gripped her fist which was cold and closed her eyes. He sensed that she was afraid, so, he said, "We practically shared a bed for a month back at your house. This is just the same condition."

She looked at him and said, "N-no, I was not --"

He smirked, "Are you afraid that I might take an advantage on you? Am I an animal? Would I take an advantage towards a girl who's just skin and bones?"

"No! I didn't say that… I…" She looked at herself on the mirror. "I… I'm fine…"

He grabbed hold on her hand and pulled her in front for several inches closer. "Are you an idiot? You're fine? With these cold fingers you had right now? Stop being such a hard headed girl and get in. The next morning I don't want to get a news saying that my wife was found frostbitten to death right next to me. I said get in, now!"

She said, "I… If I get inside that futon, it won't fit! I… I… I don't know how to undo this 7 layered kimono… I-it's too big if I sleep inside the futon, right…? And my braided hair with the complicated accessories… I need the maids help to undo--"

"Idiot, why didn't you say so? Let me help you." He said, releasing her hand.

She looked surprised. "E-eh?! You knew how to do that??"

He smirked, "During our wedding rehearsal, the maids got hold of me to teach me. It must have been for this… Those idiots…" He scowled and looked at her. "Go to the dressing table first." She obeyed him and walked towards the spot. He moved closer towards her and said, "I'll undo the braids first… then the kimono."

She nodded and allowed him to take out the accessories one by one. "Um… Thank you, Natsume…"

After replying with a short hum, he finished removing the hair-do. Next, he undoes the obi that was placed around her waist. He blushed a little bit when her obi was released off. "Look, there are 7 layers, right? So, I suggest you to wear only a single layer because it'll be hard for you to fit in the futon, all right?"

She nodded and looked at him. He was looking doubtful to help her. "Is something the matter?"

"…" He paused. "N-no… Em…" He said while pointing to her kimono. "Do you think you could reach the knots behind your back at the seventh layer of the kimono?"

Mikan reached inside her kimono and searched the knots behind her back. "W-which one? There's a lot… There's a big one--"

He moved closer and reached for the knots he mentioned just now by wrapping his arms around her waist to untie it. Her cheeks blushed red and were petrified with his actions. She did not realise that he was blushing redder than her. The position that stayed like that for about 5 minutes was finally over. It looked more like hugging instead of untying her outer robe.

"Take out all 6 and come in…" He hid his red face with his bangs and returned to the covers. She did as told and slowly went in the covers. She turned back from him, after realising that it was pretty embarrassing. _This is dangerous… The atmosphere that we shared in her room was different than now… Let this night be over quick before I do any mistakes…_

"Um… Natsume?" Mikan called him, without looking.

"What?" He replied roughly.

"Why did you refuse to be in the same class with me?" She asked innocently.

Natsume turned his head, facing Mikan who was sleeping at the opposite direction. "I… I didn't want to confine you too much." Mikan extended her eyes and gripped her pillow. He continued, "Since I didn't let you to go back to your parents' house, I feel that I should give you a space…"

She felt relieved. Mikan said, "I'm glad that your answer was not because you hated me…" With both of her eyes closed, she tried to sleep.

Natsume was… stunned with her reply. _H-hate her? Does she think that I would do that if I hate her so…? What does she really think of me…?_ He was reaching to touch her shoulders but stopped. _W-what am I doing right now?!!_ He sat up straight and shook his head. _The elders wanted this, no way; I must find a way to get out of this place…_

Mikan sat up and looked worried. "H-hey, Natsume…?" She touched his face. "W-what's wrong with you? You looked so pale…!"

"No, I'm cold. Don't worry, go sleep--"

"I… I'll call the maids. Maybe they would help you."

"Just sleep--"

"Natsume, you must seek medical--" Her voice was cut off when Natsume pinned her back on the futon. He was on top of her. With her wrists grabbed by his palms, she said, "What are you doing, let go--"

His mind was concentrated on her. "How about it? Since we're already in this position, why don't we just follow what the elders wanted?"

X

Ruka was panicking inside his room after hearing what the maids were talking about. He heard that the 'lucky night' is going to start tonight. Pondering about Natsume's character, he said, "He wouldn't touch the girl that he doesn't like, but…" He stopped walking to and fro, remembering what his cousin said to him.

"_She is __**mine**__ to do whatever I __**want**__."_

He felt uneasy with those words. Ruka walked towards the door and exited. Once he reached the main door, a group of security guards was blocking his way. He frowned and faced the cop, "Let me pass, I'm the prince--"

The moustached man gave an odd smile, "I'm sorry, Ruka-sama. Serina-sama asked us to block your way tonight. I'm afraid I can't let you go. My apologies…"

"M-mother has…?" He stared at the cops questionably. "Mom…"

X

"Hey, hey…" Tsubasa called his band members in the isolated palace which was big enough to place all the needed equipments for the band. The black haired bishounen ran towards Kaname, who was fiddling with the cotton string attached to a wire. He grasped his shoulder and said, "The lucky night's today!!"

Shouda-senpai almost shouted with his eyes wide. "They're serious about this?!" He pulled himself from the bean-bag and laughed, "I would like to see how Natsume's doing right now…"

Kaname gave a wry smile, "Even though Natsume's a guy, he knows how to control himself from women… I'm sure he wouldn't do rash things towards Mikan without her permission…"

The star-shaped mark boy sniggered while taking off his sneakers. "That's your opinion, Kaname. Things would go upside down…" He threw the sneakers from his feet and arched his arms behind his back. "Say, where's Misaki and Hotaru? Went out for an hour just to get late snacks from the kitchen??"

Shouda-senpai said, "Em, they said they wanted to pay a visit to the shrine for a while."

"At this time? Our late hour band practice??" Tsubasa sweat dropped. "For what reason?!"

"Preventing Natsume to be rough on Mikan, of course." Kaname smiled, as he watched Tsubasa with an annoyed face,

X

Mikan slowly digested what Natsume said to her. Her mind was all fuzzy due to the lack of nutrition. "Look, Natsume… I'm really sick right now. Don't play a joke with me… Let me go…"

His grips tightened and snarled, "I'm not kidding. I mean it."

She calmly said, "When you find a girl that you truly love, do it as you wish…"

Natsume looked away from her for a second and then replied, "We men are different from women. We could simply do it, even with those who we don't like."

His words echoed in her brain, repeating several times. Her teary beads fell down to her cheeks.

"You look like you're offering to a monster…" Natsume said while frowning.

"Look, just let me off now… I've lost all my energy for today… Please, I--"

"It's your entire fault we're in this condition." He said coldly. She stopped from talking and looked at him in confusion. "Your unhealthy body condition and things that you've caused everybody to worry about… Royalty problems will be easily solved when the princess bears a child."

She yelled, "What?! Are you kidding me?"

"Well, you wish I would be joking right now, silly." He said, coming several inches closer. "I'm just doing what the condition leads me to." He reached for her collar, which he was about to unveil.

Her heart thumped like crazy. She didn't expect this to turn this way, so, with all her might; she kicked his stomach using her knee. He winced and jerked himself from her, writhing in pain. She covered her half-revealed chest quickly and yelled, "Y-you bloody perverted jerk!" She reached for his collar and shook him. "Just what do you think you're doing?! Did you download or read those indecent materials?! Are you nuts?!!!"

Natsume only stared at her, numbly. Suddenly he gave a rare smile. "That worked well, huh?"

"W-what?!"

"I was just playing around and you fell for it…" He smiled broadly. "That was an extreme response I got…" He chuckled a bit.

She flushed red after seeing him laughing, so 'handsomely'. It was her first time, making him laugh, but those things he did went over-board. She yelled again, "Why do you always make me so angry for the things that you don't really meant to do?! Stop doing that or else I'm gonna-- Ouch… my head…" She placed a hand on her forehead and frowned. "You made me so angry that I've used up all my energy…"

"Stupid, it was you who fell for it…" Natsume snapped. She began to ache seriously. "H-hey…" Mikan started to look pale and was frowning furiously. He reached for her and said, "M-Mikan, hey… Are you all right…?"

She stuck out her tongue and teased, "You got tricked too!!!"

He snapped from his worried self and growled deeply, "Don't do that again, you moron!" Natsume sees her standing up, and was about to say something.

She looked at him, intently and said, "We're… going to get divorced soon. I do hope we could be good friends, even though--" Her eyes started to water. Mikan realised that she was about to cry, so, she looked away from him, shaking her head. "I… I'm going to get a sleep…"

Natsume saw her moving away and thought deeply. _Why did you show such honest eyes…? Why… why don't you try to hide anything form me? Why…?_ Within a few seconds, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her. She was staggering at first and crashed into him-- in a kiss. Her eyes widened.

X

Lady Otonashi, who was wearing a black attire, stepped a foot on the palace's compound where Natsume and Mikan was 'locked' up. She was worried how it may turn out, so, she was eager enough to rush the maids to open the door as soon as possible. The maids bowed upon her and slowly latched the lock from the sliding door.

"Your Highness," Lady Otonashi called from outside. "It's already 7 am… Please--" She was interrupted with the presence of Mikan and Natsume coming out of the room in a messy condition. To her surprise, she saw a big red hand print on Natsume's tired face. Mikan was not wearing the other 6 layers of kimono anymore but was looking angry about something.

A maid bowed and said, "N-Natsume-sama, y-your b-breakfast--" She stopped when she saw him giving a stare at her.

He pointed to all the maids, "Damn the breakfast. Be prepared to be laid off today!" the maids scooted out hurriedly, leaving Lady Otonashi standing alone there. "Cousin Otonashi, leave us…" He said while rubbing his left hand-side cheek, which was red in colour. Otonashi understood and left. Natsume boomed at Mikan's ear. "You idiot! We're having a conference today!! How the heck am I gonna get out like this?!"

"Shut up, you pervert!!" She reacted, "Why did you do that yesterday?!" She covered her face in her hands, "I've always wanted my first kiss to be done at a candlelight dinner with a decent guy… Instead, I have to be with a lame guy like you!!"

He furrowed his brows, "Lame?! What the heck, you called that a kiss yesterday?! Lips touching by the surface-- a kiss?! A kiss is a deeper--"

"I don't wanna hear it!!" She cuts him in. "Voyeur, I'm going to go first!!" Mikan walked the front with her blushing face.

_A girl drooling at a guy's back__ while sleeping… is called a human instead a pervert?_ He recalled the night at her house. "What an idiot…" Natsume followed her trails towards their palace. He tucked in his hands in his pockets and thought. _W-why did I do that to her…?_ He flashbacked the moment where he kissed her. He blushed a bit and lowered his head. _Why…?_

As Mikan was stepping on the snowy pebble stones, she looked up to see Ruka standing in front of her palace with a worried look. His face seemed too thin and immediately rushed towards her, by grabbing her arms. "A-are you all right..? D-did anything h-happened to you?? M-Mikan, say something…!"

She smiled sweetly, making him blush a little. "O-of course I am…" He sighed and slowly released her arms. He shook his head again. "What's wrong with you, Ruka? Why are you staying here?"

"I ran off from my palace as soon as the sun rises…" He stared at her eyes. Ruka couldn't help it and embraced her tightly. "I was so worried… Mikan…"

Her brown eyes enlarged. She was hugged by her cousin-in-law. She tried to push him away but he was too strong for her. "R-Ruka… I… I don't think this is good… People might think different if we are doing this… C-could you let go off me…?"

Ruka, on the other hand, was not paying attention to her. Instead, he was facing Natsume, who was looking outraged. With a smirk given from the blond, Natsume lunged for his collar and pushed him away from Mikan as Ruka hits the tree bark. He pulled Mikan's arm to himself and roared, "What are you doing?!"

"I was greeting her…" Ruka said after he stood up from the ground, rubbing his neck.

Natsume glared at him, "You call that a greeting? Crushing her shoulders and waist like that?" He smirked, "You must've heard something, so you ran here like a dog…" He stared at him for a while and pulled her towards the palace.

"Sumire…" Ruka mouthed out. Natsume stopped from walking with his wide eyes. "She went all the way to England because she missed seeing you at school. Maybe you could understand why I ran here if you know that I have the same kind of feelings." Natsume's eyes darted on the pebble stones. "She was able to wander around England with you while I was grabbed by the collar and was thrown away." Ruka faced to the back and walked off.

Natsume's fist tightened. Mikan surveyed his angered face and made a hypothesis. _Why does he get so edgy whenever somebody mentions Sumire…? Does he really care for Sumire that much? Is she… really precious for him?_


	14. Chapter 13

Yuki: I kinda felt like making Ruka the bad guy... as you can see in the anime, he was kinda mean when he got hypnotised by Leo/Reo, so, I thought that he would make a good example. Heh, I got 100+ reviews! Thanks!!!

**Chapter 11: Natsume's Insecure Position.**

Natsume looked around his palace and was trying to look for a peace of mind. He remembered what Ruka had said earlier and was totally pissed off with him. The next morning, he wore his school uniform and grabbed the school bag. He met up with Mikan, who was waiting in front of their car. Suddenly, he felt that Mikan looked so… pretty today. (?) He shook his mind to forget what he had thought earlier.

Mikan, who tied her hair in a bun, looked at him with deep concern. "N-Natsume…?" She moved forward towards him and asked, "You looked weird… You're reddening… Are you sick…?"

_Is this the after-effect of that night…?_ He shoved her hand and entered the car. "Hurry along, we'll be late…" Mikan shrugged and joined him in the car. "Hey… tomorrow is the day, right?"

He swivelled his eyes on her face, "Yeah, why?"

She smiled and said, "Nah… I was just wondering how it felt like… Waving in front of the crowd on that festival day…" Mikan lowered her head and mumbled, "Although I can't go for the festival…"

Natsume heard what she said, but purposely ignored it. "……"

X

A boy with black spiked up hair was walking down with his 2 friends downstairs, heading towards Natsume's class. He was quite good looking but not up to the par with the prince's level. He said, with a big smile on his face, "If we got him to do that, we'll be paid full. Imagine the sum of the money…"

"Yeah, that's cool, Akira." Said a boy with glasses. "Look…" He pointed to the front. "It's the Crown Prince."

Akira stepped forward and brought Natsume to stop walking. He waved, "Hey, Natsume-kun."

Natsume was not used to be called with the nickname '-kun' at the end of his name. Especially from someone whom he doesn't know. He tucked in his hands in his pockets and replied, "I don't remember being friendly with you."

"Well…" Akira said with his piercing green eyes. "I wanna be friendly starting from now…"

Natsume frowned and moved forward, "Mind moving? I'm busy…" He started to walk away from him.

Akira called, "So… it seems that you were married to that woman. How was your first night with her?" Natsume stopped from walking and gave a deathly glare at him. "Her figure is crappy, so, I think it wasn't really nice."

Natsume was trying to control his anger. (Anger management?) He calmly said, "I can guess who paid you to do this but I have no desire of hitting you first. So, why don't you give up now?" He smirked and was walking away.

Akira gripped his fist and blurted out, "Do you know that she was my ex-girlfriend since junior high?"

The prince stopped walking and turned his head towards Akira. "What? Repeat what you said--"

"Well, she's cute, right?" Akira said. _Got you, Crown Prince._ "I thought I'd play around a bit with her."

His anger doubled. "Play around…? What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, come on…" He placed a hand on his shoulders. "We're men, after all."

Natsume shoved his hand from him. "Don't touch me!" He smirked, "So what? I'm sure she had a boyfriend before. You guys went out a bit. What's the big deal?"

Akira knew that Natsume was already in his trap. "Oh… But, you know…" He sneered, "She was dumped because she's such a slowpoke. She doesn't even get the simplest things. And, all she knows is food, right? She ate like a dog every time I brought her for a date." Natsume's vein started to pop out from his forehead. "Then again… You can really play with that type of girls, huh?"

Natsume grabbed his collar and pushed him on the wall. "Shut you mouth, you twerp!!" He formed his right hand into a fist and was about to launch at him. But it landed right next to his face. "I've been trained in self control and discipline since I was a child. I have been wondering why I was supposed to learn those. Looks like it's useful at these situations." Blood started to drip from his fist when it crashed on the wall.

"W-what…?!" He was quite terrified to see his true character. He didn't know that the Crown Prince could be so threatening.

"Are you dumb or what?" He continued talking. "Do I have to teach you on formal addressing to the Princess of this country? Don't call her that formally, even though she was your ex." He drew closer to him. "It'll be wise not to appear in front of me, or else…" He whispered, "If you need money so badly, why don't you apply as Mikan's servant to serve her as a slave? I'm sure she's kind enough to throw you a few bucks, right?" Natsume jerked himself from Akira and walked towards the hall. "I don't wanna mess with my wife's ex-boyfriend."

Akira's friends rushed up to the shocked boy. "H-hey, are you all right?? Miyano-kun!"

Miyano Akira whispered to himself with full angst, "Sooner or later, I'll…"

X

Natsume skipped his 5th class and went to his limousine. A bodyguard was panicked with his bleeding hand and asked him to go to the hospital. The shounen yelled, "Let's get going! This's nothing but a scratch. I'm not feeling well now, let the sensei know about this. End of discussion." The bodyguard bowed several times and got into the car. Natsume sighed and shuts his eyes for a rest.

Mikan was worried when she heard about Natsume being 'sick'. After changing her clothing into a formal one, she rushed immediately towards his palace and entered the room. He was reading a book, until he saw her. Her eyes felt with deep concern, "A-are you all right, Natsume? I heard from the bodyguards that you were sick!! I knew you were acting strange since this morning!!" She felt his forehead.

He was flustered and grabbed her hand from his head. "I'm all right, idiot. I was giving an excuse to go back home…"

She noticed that one of his hands was bandaged and there were several blots of blood on it. She took his hand and panicked, "N-Natsume!! What did you do to your hand!??"

He flings his hand from her, "That's none of your concern… I wanna ask you something…" He moved his blood shot eyes on her. "Did you go out with this guy named Akira Miyano?"

Mikan was a little bit shocked. "E-eh? Akira-kun?"

_Akira… kun?!_ He thought deeply. _He's really her boyfriend??_

She shook her head, vigorously. "Jeez, how did you know him, anyway?"

"Just answer the question, idiot strawberries!" Natsume snapped. "Did you go out with him or not?!"

Mikan smiled, "No, of course not. Why should he go out with me? He's the popular type since junior high. I'm not."

His face relaxed for a bit and said, "I can't imagine you going out with a guy like him."

"But, how did you know him??" She asked with an innocent look on her face. "Did you stumble into him or something? And what's with the odd question you asked me??"

"It's nothing…" He ruffled her hair. "I'm just glad."

Mikan was in confusion. She didn't know what was going on. "Man, you're really weird, you know." She pulled his hand. "Come, I'll show you something."

X

"What the…" Natsume received a puppy from Mikan, who was smiling the whole day. They were inside her palace. "Puppies aren't allowed in the palace, you know. Karin-sama's allergic to dog's fur. You should know that…"

She slapped her forehead and said, "Oh, crap! I forgot about that… It slipped from my mind. Ruka brought me this, so--"

His voice tensed, "Ruka? Did you say Ruka was the one who gave you this?"

Mikan nodded. "Uh, yeah." Natsume handed back the white puppy to her. "He's sweet, isn't he? When you went overseas, he thought I might be lonely. That's why he decided to buy a pet."

Natsume was pretty much unhappy about Ruka's closeness with Mikan. Now that Serina-sama was going against his own mother, Karin, he had to see things clearly around him. "……"

"Ah, you're in a deep thought again…" Mikan said. After that, she remembered something. "Do you remember saying that you're going to quit as the Emperor of Japan before?" He nodded. "I… I don't want you to do that. I can't imagine someone else becoming the Emperor besides you…"

He was shocked to hear her reply. He expected much that she would agree on his resignation. "I'm not stupid as to stay on the throne… You don't know Ruka that well. When it comes to politics, he's much better than--"

"Remember when we got married?" She said, cutting his sentence. "Everybody was giving you a well wish on that day. But… you are all smiles, in order not to hurt the citizens, even though you weren't happy about this arranged wedding. I guess I judged you wrong for a long time. And, I was impressed that you did that."

"Hmph…" He smirked mischievously. "Anybody could do that, you know. It's just a fake smile--"

"If you stayed to become the Emperor, after we got divorced…" She said, with a sad tone. "I could see properly on how you'll be doing, you know…" Natsume was staring at her. "Then, I'll be satisfied enough to--"

"Are you kidding me? Just because you wanted to check on how I was doing after the divorce…?" Natsume patted her head. "Lil girl, I won't let that happen. Never."

X

Today's the special day for every citizen in Japan. The winter festival is held starting from today. The event will be held for about a week or two, depending on how thick the snow level can be. Mikan was forced to wear a kimono, in order to face the public. The couple entered the room and she was amazed by the number of citizens who came specifically to see them. This show is broadcasted LIVE in the national television channel, Fuji TV.

Mikan bowed at first and then waved at the patriotic people. She looked at her left, where her husband was standing at. Mikan sweat dropped when she saw him day-dreaming about something with his hand up. _Ah, jeez… He has been day dreaming frequently… Um…_ She looked to her left. _Where's Ruka? … Aha! There he is! Eh… Why isn't he waving? Or even smile?_

Ruka hid his face by covering his bangs and sinisterly smiled. He chinned up and waved at the crowd. Then, moments later, about two or three eggs came out of no where and managed to hit on Natsume's face and his attire. Mikan immediately moved her eyes on her husband, who was petrified with the happening. Natsume felt his face using his right hand and looked at it, thoughtfully, with hurtful eyes. The crowd started to chatter something about Natsume. The guards surrounded the royalty couple and brought Natsume to the other wing of the building.

His wife, Mikan, started to cry. Her maids crammed around her, to ease her feelings. _N-Natsume… he got egged… W-why…?_ She recalled his stunned expression when he was egged in public. _N-Natsume… He's doing the best in his job as the future Emperor…_ Behind her back, Ruka was smiling.

Mikan and Natsume were brought back to their palaces, but, in a separate car. He was brought to the palace earlier than she did. She was unable to shut her eyes, even for a minute. His deadpan expression, kept on bugging her mind. "Once I get my hands on the person who did this… I'll tear that guy into bits…" She was resting on her fluffy queen sized bed, until she sat up. _It would've been better if I was hit, rather than him!! _Her hands which were gripped on the hemline of her skirt started to tighten. "I… I'll see his condition…" She slides open the door and found Ruka standing right in front of her. "R-Ruka… What brings you here?"

He leaned on the wall, outside her palace. "Seeing you, of course. I'd guessed that you wanted to visit Natsume, am I right?" Mikan only looked away from him. "Look, it'll be wise if you don't see him at this minute. Ever since he became the Crown Prince, he had no negative remarks coming towards him. And now, this incident happened. Natsume's pride might've gone to the limits. I'm afraid that if you go and meet him right now, he'll land a punch on your face."

X

Matsuda slammed the table harder than usual. He was shocked that the whole Japan had witnessed this shameful act. He roared, "What do you mean the guards were unable to see the eggs coming from!? I told you to keep a good eye on the surroundings, am I correct?!"

"Y-yes, your Majesty…" The chief assistant named Toda said. "B-but we'll try to locate where the criminal is… And we have doubled the security around the Crown Prince's palace… My deep apologies, your Highness…"

Karin shook her head and rested her head on her palms. "Impossible…"

X

Serina, on the other hand, was having a chat with Rei in her palace. She was quite pleased that the plan was working well, just like what they have discussed. "I'm pleased to hear that the work was a great success. Rei, that was brilliant!"

Rei smiled, "It is an honour to serve you, Serina-sama."

"Right now, things might be quite shallow, but as our plan go well, everybody might think differently of Natsume-sama. They will doubt him by saying, 'Is he a trustworthy person to become the King'?"

"Yes, I agree with you, Serina-sama." Rei nodded. "But this time, I feel that someone in this palace should do a job for us. It'll make things easier for us to achieve the goal."

"Yes, we'll do whatever it takes…" Serina said confidently. She remembered talking to her late husband before he died. He said to her that she is supposed to get Ruka back on the throne, by any means. "Explain your scheme."

X


	15. Chapter 14

Lina: I somehow messed up the numbers of the chapters, but overall, there's no problem to it. This is chapter 14, review please D

**Chapter 14****: Their True Relationship.**

Ruka convinced Mikan that she should not go to meet Natsume at this hour, but her heart still insists on going to him. Then, Hotaru came along with Tsubasa. Her heart leaped when she saw Hotaru visiting her. Ruka retreated for a while.

Mikan went up to them and said, "H-hey, you guys… what's up?"

Hotaru smacked her head with a fist. Tsubasa sweat dropped and said, "H-Hotaru… Aren't you going too far? She's the Princess…"

"I hate a person who doesn't think properly." Hotaru complained. She stared at Ruka for a while and then back to her best friend. "Always listen to what your conscience say to you. Natsume's your husband right now. Go on, or else…"

Mikan exhaled a breath and said, "Thanks, Hotaru! I'll see you guys later! Bye!!" She ran off with her platform shoes towards her husband's palace, leaving the three of them.

Tsubasa said, "Tsk, tsk, tsk… Ruka, I know that you're pretty sad when things went out of your hands ever since your late father's death, but don't you think that… taking away someone's wife is not that good?"

Ruka's eyes gleamed and said, "She was mine, Tsubasa. He took her from me. Not the other way round."

Hotaru flashed several pictures of Ruka, "Look here." He turned to face her and was dumbstruck. "I have these… and more back at home. So, if you could follow what I say to you, I'll return these. Make up your mind before I hand it to our school reporters…"

He tried to retrieve the embarrassing pictures of him from Hotaru, but failed. He said, "I-Imai, you're blackmailing the second-in-line prince, you know!"

"Ah, so what?" Hotaru said emotionlessly. "I'm a part of the royal family too."

X

As Mikan was going to his palace, she saw several maids and bodyguards leaving his premise with scared expression. In her mind, she felt that Natsume told them to keep a distance from him. Thinking that he may be in a bad mood, she didn't care whether he loathes at her or anything like that. Instead, she thinks that, at this situation, she has to help him from this scandal as his legal wife.

Mikan knocked several times, but the reply she got was to leave him alone. Without thinking twice, she opened the door. After opening the door, she saw him lying on his bed with his arms covering his eyes. Natsume said, without looking at her, "Leave me alone…"

By taking tiny steps forward, she timidly said, "N-Natsume…" His ears twitched when he heard the voice. Immediately, he removed his hands and sat up. He stared at her as she immediately stopped walking any further. "I… I know I may be an annoying girl to you but… a-are you okay…? Y-your cheek…"

He touched his right cheek which was plastered. "A measly egg or two wouldn't break my bone, idiot. Of course I'm all right."

She placed a hand on her chest. "Huh… You're all right… I thought that…" He flashed back the moment where Mikan was crying on the spot where he got egged in front of the public.

"Truthfully… I was completely shocked." He said. "Since this is the first time encountering this incident, I was speechless. Also, everybody around me was so afraid like a guilty convict and wouldn't dare to come near me. The atmosphere was pretty thick…" He looked at her, who was standing at the same place. She was about to cry. "Stop crying, stupid. Sit down; don't stand there like an idiot…"

She winced, "Hey, don't call me like that!!" Mikan grabbed a chair and sat next to him. "But…" She tightened her grasp on her skirt. "You've done your best as the Crown Prince… You didn't do anything wrong… Why would they throw eggs on your face?? I…"

"Don't squeeze your brains out about this." He smirked, "A naïve girl like you shouldn't think too much."

She pouted, "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?! Hey, I saw in the television that the stalls in the Tsukiji-Honganji Temple were all put up! It's a nice view to see!"

He folded his arms and concentrated on her excited face. "Let me guess, you wanna go there?"

She sweat dropped. "Yeah, of course. I would love to, but, I can't go, right? So, why don't we just watch through the television?" Mikan grabbed the remote control from a table and clicked it 'on'. It showed the busy situation near the temple with lots of many people wearing their traditional kimonos. Some of them were fishing some goldfishes and others buying foods.

Natsume watched the television for a second and then moved his attention to his wife. _She has been worrying about me… Hm… what is this feeling that I have right now…?_ He saw her tugging his sleeves while pointing towards the screen, showing some girls eating a food. _Does she think that this event is joyful for her?_

"That's the yakisoba stall that me and Hotaru fought about last year!! We fought that last piece on the table, haha. What a memory!!" She said, while laughing out hard. "Hey, hey. Have you been there??" She asked. "For once?"

He shook his head. "No, idiot. I'm not allowed to go. It's crowded and accidents may happen if I'm there."

Mikan gaped at him while blinking. "No way, you haven't?? You should go for those events!! It's really great, you know!!"

He smirked while folding his arms. Natsume smiled, "I wonder if your simple-mindedness was a birth right to you…" She blushed when she saw him smiling at her. "Oh, what was that? You're blushing??"

She closed her eyes and replied, "No, you idiot. Why would I blush?!" He smirked.

Natsume stretched himself and yawned. He got to his feet and turned, "Toilet…" He lazily walked towards a door and entered it, leaving her.

Mikan examined the room with her almond eyes. She detected a table filled with pictures. Mikan smiled when she saw a picture of Ruka and Natsume when they were about 5 years old. Her eyes stopped when she saw several pictures of Sumire. She grabbed one of it and stared. "He… still likes Sumire…" She brought up her arms against her eyes to rub the tears. "…… I'm the third party… There's no picture of me, at all…" She searched all over the desk for her picture. Looks like there was not any.

Natsume returned to his room and saw her holding Sumire's picture with a disappointed look. He got angry and said, "Why are you messing around with my stuffs?!" He snatched the picture from Mikan and replaced it on the table. "This sort of act pisses me off, okay?"

Mikan recoiled and nodded. "I'll have to go study in the study hall with Lady Otonashi…" She ran as fast as she could until she reached her palace. Natsume took several steps ahead but paused for a while. And then, he returned to his bed and sat on it, thinking something. He heaved a sigh.

X

The next day, the husband and wife was called to the King's quarters. They sat on the sofa while having a high tea with the Emperor. "Matsuda-sama…" Natsume called after his father finished drinking his tea. "What about our promise?" Mikan turned to look at her husband's face with a confused state.

Matsuda paused from reaching a dessert. He faced him, seriously. "Huh? What promise do you mean?"

"To move to Nijo's palace. You promised that I would move to that castle after my marriage. It has been 11 months since I've got married. When are you going to keep your promise?"

Matsuda smiled and said, "Oh yes. I've forgotten about that. I think I might do that after your one-year wedding anniversary. I'll discuss with your mother on the date, but it'll be soon."

Mikan thought for a while. _W-what? Moving to Nijo's palace?? For what?! _

Natsume nodded. "I will be waiting."

After meeting with the king, Natsume walked out of the palace into theirs. When they were on the way, Mikan tugged his shirt and asked. "What did you ask for the Nijo castle for? Are we staying there or what?"

"Idiot…" He shook his head. "If we were to move there, the palace will be ours. There won't be any old geezers to boss us around. In short, you'll be able to meet your parents quietly without people knowing. So…" He pulled her hand to move faster. "It's like a freedom. Don't you like it?"

"Well… Yeah, it'll be great but…" Mikan frowned. "Why didn't you tell me earlier about this? And, you may be separated from your family!" She stared at him to get a response, but received none. "You're so… restless."

"Yeah, I'm restless, so what?" He replied, when he reached her palace. "There won't be anything going on today. Spend the time wisely, 'cause it's rare for you to get a day off."

Her eyes shot open when she heard the word 'day off'. Mikan's cheerful face revived, "Hey!! A day off?! Really?!" He folded his arms in reply. "Cool! Let's go out for a while, shall we??"

Natsume rejected, "Nope, I'm busy. I did mention that you were the only one who got day off, not me. I'm off to meet someone."

"Who is it? The Prime Minister??" She asked.

He turned his head to the opposite direction and looked back to her face. He said, "Sumire needs a talk with me."

"……Oh……" Mikan managed to say. She saw him leaving her palace. "His heart is somewhere else…" When she turned her back, she saw Kaname and Tsubasa waving their hands to her direction from the garden. Her face lit up and ran towards them. She said with a big grin on her face, "Hey, what brings you guys here?"

"It was Kaname's idea to pay you a visit." Tsubasa pointed at the blonde with his thumb. "School's out, right? So, he thought that we should bring you out for a while. The band's coming with us too. Would you like that?"

Mikan's heart leaped after hearing what he said and then faced Kaname, who only smiled. "Gee, thanks for inviting me! Of course I would love to join!"

Kaname nodded and then asked, "Oh, by the way… Why did you look so uncomfortable with Natsume just now? You should get along with him pretty well. It has been almost a year…"

"No…" Mikan mumbled. "He said something that hurts my feelings… Ah, well. That happens every time I see him…" The blonde sweat dropped and gave her words of encouragement.

Tsubasa chinned up. "Look…" He said, darting his eyes where Misaki and the rest waved at him. "They're here. Let's go!"

X

Sumire was standing in the middle of the Shibuya Park, waiting for Natsume like they promised. There aren't much people around here since everybody went to the shrines to pay their respect. She was unhappy about Mikan being his bride. As she was thinking further about her annoyance, a tap was felt on her left shoulder. She turned her head and saw Natsume in his turtleneck sweater with a muffler that was presented from Mikan. He was carrying a sling bag across his body, looking like a teenager.

Sumire smiled and grabbed her hand. "Hey, Natsume! How are you doing?"

He looked at their entwined hands. Natsume released his hand from it, making her looking shocked. "… I'm fine."

She frowned. "Natsume, why did you avoid me?" Sumire drew forward. "Did she put some voodoo or incantation spells on you?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm married now. I don't like rumours going on that'll spoil my name…"

Sumire placed both of her hands on her hips. "What do you mean? You think that I'm causing trouble!? Look who's talking, you didn't even call me when I was abroad that you're gonna get married with some freak. You're at fault!"

"Wait a second…" He smirked at her. "I remembered that you were the one not answering my calls. You were busy with the fashion business and other things." She stepped backwards. "Anyway, I don't think we would get married, despite your career."

She yelled, "Of course we would get married! Rather than some low-graded girl like Mikan!"

He felt angry when he heard Sumire labelling Mikan a 'low-graded girl'. He frowned deeply and walked forward, ignoring Sumire who was clinging on his arm. Without their notice, several paparazzi were taking photos on them.

X

Hotaru was browsing for some clothes, while Mikan was sitting on a resting area with Youichi and Ruka. They were hanging out at the mall, but surprisingly, not many people were there. The group was hanging out at Isetan mall. The blonde said, "Mikan, do you know that next week's Natsume's birthday?"

Her head turned to him. "Eh?! Natsume's birthday?! Really?!"

He placed Youichi on his lap and stroked his hair. "Yeah, you're his wife, how could you not know about this?"

She lowered her eyes down to her hands. "H-he didn't tell me… neither the maids did that too."

Ruka pointed to Hotaru, Misaki, Shouda-senpai, Kaname and Tsubasa. "They all are buying presents for him. They figured that you might know about his birthday, that's why they didn't make fuss about it."

"Oh…" Mikan nodded. _Darn Natsume, why didn't he tell me that his birthday's coming soon?!_

Ruka added, "His party will be held at the multi-purpose hall near the King's palace. The invitation cards were sent to each royal family. Em…" He concentrated his eyes on her face. "Are you okay?"

She nodded again. "Yeah, I'm all right. Don't worry about me." She saw him telling Youichi to join Tsubasa. "Youichi's really cute, huh?"

"You're cuter…" Ruka finally said after staring into her eyes. She blushed red and looked away. "Natsume isn't treating you good enough, right? I've been watching the both of you for a long time… And I thought a lot too…"

"Thought a lot?" Mikan asked. "What is it?"

"I've thought that 'If I were her husband, I would have done that'… 'I would have done this if I were her husband…' Thoughts like that have been wandering around in my mind for a long time. And, probably now… You would have visited your parents on this day." He held her hand. "Mikan, your marriage with Natsume must be annulled that we could get married."


	16. Author's Desperado Note 2!

**Author's note:**

Oh my god… I'm so sorry I haven't updated…. The thing is… this stupid college is making me crazy with all the works piling up! Taking up either About the story Royalty Demands and Under One Roof, don't worry… I will update it soon… I hope… My college will end by April… so I have a plenty of time to type and update it. Of course, I would try to update it sooner… '''

I'm so tensed right now… Even though author's note is not supposed to be published here, but I'm in desperate measures to tell you guys. Sorry! As for Royalty Demands, I have written the next chapter already, but I'm waiting for a good time to publish it, since I didn't bring my pendrive today… Idiota… Thanks for all your reviews, I really appreciate it, truly. Thanks for reading this note.


	17. Chapter 15

**Chapter 13: His Birthday**** Preparation.**

Mikan was in the restroom, where she ran towards to after a talk with Ruka. Her heart was beating fast, unusual than last time. She splashed an amount of water on her face, to cool down. She stared her face in the mirror and thought about the conversation she had with Ruka a while ago.

**Flashback…**

_She stood up from her place, with her eyes wide. "W-what did you say?! D-don't even joke about that, Ruka…"_

"_I'm joking…? Why would I joke around with a serious issue like that?" He looked at her while sitting down. "I loved you, Mikan, for a long time… To have you as my cousin-in-law is unbearable."_

_She moved backwards, blushing redder than last time. "W-what are you saying things like this…?! I'm your Natsume's wife. Nothing can change that fact. I'm married to him."_

_He stood up, still staring at her face. "Are you afraid of criticism? Never mind that. After getting married to me, nobody would talk bad about you. They'll treat as if nothing happened between you and Natsume, I'll make sure of that. And, the monarchy will become strong."_

**End of flashback…**

She got to her knees and buried her face in her palms. "How could he say that…?" Her blush was still red. "Ruka…" Mikan placed her hands on her chest, to calm down her heart beat.

X

The next day, Natsume got out of bed, went for a long bath and read the headline for the newspaper. He was shocked that the picture of Sumire and himself was on it. He thought for a while why his mother didn't come to his room, going cuckoo about this gossip column. The headline was pretty disturbing too. It was written 'The Crown Prince's **Mistress**-- Sumire Shouda, the famous designer of S.S?'

He slumped himself on the couch and sighed as he read through the gossip part about him. While reading through, he thought of Mikan. "What would she say if she sees this…?" He was paining to see the look at her face when she reads this. He dressed up formally and walked out for breakfast. He entered the palace and saw Mikan already in her seat, day-dreaming about something while slamming the table.

_Geez, that conversation with Ruka was still stuck in my head!! How am I going to confront him?!_ Mikan was mumbling and muttering something under her breath until she heard someone calling her 'Strawberries'. She snapped from her dreaming and darted her finger at him. "Y-you! Don't call me that!!" He was sitting on a chair in front of her, while folding his arms.

He shrugged. "You were the one not listening to me." He eyed at her. "You looked as if someone was about to kill you."

"How can I not relax!!?" Mikan yelled. "I'm in a dilemma, all right? And that scandal on the papers!!"

His eyes are wide open, feeling satisfied. "Oh? You've read it already?"

Mikan folded her arms. "Yeah… But…" Her tone changed suddenly. "I have no rights saying 'No'. You loved her. I even heard that she was your first love. That makes me feel even worse. And so…" She lifted her face from below and smiled. "I… I'll just leave everything to our fate, since we're getting divorced one day."

_That was not the expression I was hoping from her!_ He sighed and ate the foods that were on the table without replying her. After finishing the breakfast with a dessert, he said, "Hey, we'll be going to the parliament--" He was distracted as Mikan started to talk to herself. Frowning with her acts, he noticed Ruka coming in through the back door, which was behind Mikan. Natsume waved and said, "Hey, Ruka."

Mikan winced terribly when she heard the name 'Ruka'. She slowly turned her head behind and almost got a heart attack when he delivered a smile to her. Ruka said, "Morning, Natsume, Mikan."

"M-Morning… R-Ruka… H-ha… ha… ha…" Mikan started to stutter terribly that made Natsume feeling odd about his wife. She stood up suddenly that made Ruka jumped backwards. "I… need to go to toilet!!" She dashed away.

Natsume followed his eyes where Mikan went to and then to Ruka. "Something happened." The blonde only smiled. "I guessed that she was weird this morning…"

"Forget about that…" Ruka said, while showing the newspaper headline to him. "Some meeting, huh…?"

The amber eyes drifted from the sapphires. "It's my personal business."

Ruka gave a small laughter and nodded. "All right. I'm in no place to ask deeper info." He reached for the exit and stopped to say, "Mikan either. I heard you didn't even tell her about your birthday. What's more, your relationship with Sumire?" Ruka left Natsume alone in the dining room.

"Mikan is different." He said, while looking at his dish.

"Why am I acting like this?!" Mikan asked herself. She looked at her hands and gripped it. "I must be confident on myself!" As she opened the restroom door, she saw Natsume standing right in front of her. "What are you doing here?"

He steered his eyes on her. "Didn't I tell you about the parliament visiting? We'll go there together." Mikan placed a finger on her chin, thinking deeply for a second and nodded. "Good, let's go now."

"Oh, all right!" She tagged along with Natsume.

He was feeling odd that she was not giving much of a damn about his scandal. Natsume sensed there was something fishy going on between Ruka and Mikan. Trying not to care much about that matter, he said, "My birthday's coming this week."

"Yeah, Ruka told me." She replied.

"Look, it's not like I don't wanna tell you about my birthday…" He commented. "It's just… I don't like celebrating my birthday. I hope at least someone forgets my birthday."

Mikan sweat dropped. "Why would you wanna do that for?! It's an important date that reminds us on our birth."

He bent his head down for a while and straightened his back. "Nah, never mind that stupid topic." Natsume went in the car with Mikan and arrived at the parliament.

_Why would he want someone to forget his birthday? And… to think about it, so far, I was the only one not knowing his anniversary. He prefers me not knowing his birthday?_ _What a weird guy he is… I wonder what makes him so sad, just thinking about his birthday…_ "Natsume… I wanna ask something personal."

He placed a hand on her shoulder and patted it. "Wait here for several minutes. The Prime Minister needs to talk to me." Natsume tucked his hands inside his pockets and followed the PM in the meeting room.

"What a swell…" She mumbled to herself. Mikan looked around the parliament and was amazed because it was her first time being here. When she was twirling around for no reason, she bumped into someone. She panicked and said, "A-are you all right!?"

To her surprise, she was bumped into Sumire Shouda. She was wearing a latest fashion outfit, matching with her shoes and accessories. Sumire was… smiling. "Well, what do we have here? Mikan-hime, am I right?"

Mikan only nodded and said, "Yeah, you got that right…"

"Happy being the princess of the nation now?" Sumire sneered. The brunette steeped backwards. "I'm sure the money in your bank account's filled with money that you desired, huh?"

"Just—" As Mikan was about to reply back, she heard someone defending her side.

"Sumire-san…" A man with grey hair approached them. He looked young despite the hair colour. A gentle expression dominates his face. He steered his eyes directly into permy's. He smiled and said, "You should address her with more respect. She's our future Empress… You knew the penalty for not obeying this rule, right?"

Sumire snarled in a low tone and turned away. "Like I care…" She left the hall.

Seeing Sumire in a red face makes Mikan feeling happy. She bowed to the man standing next to her and thanked. "Thanks for your help just now…"

The man smiled. "No worries… I'm Noda, the Minister of Education. I was on my way to the meeting ground until I saw your Highness…"

"B-but, Sumire's the part of the royal family too! Y-you might get—"

Noda smiled. "I'm her uncle…"

Mikan moved backwards with a shocked face. "U-u-u-u-un-un-uncle!?!!!"

"Ah, yeah. If you'll excuse me, I'll be joining your husband in a meeting…" Mikan nodded vigorously. She moved to make a way for him. Noda turned the door knob and entered the meeting room.

"H-her uncle… oh God…" Mikan panicked. "I'll just go outside…" When she stepped several steps ahead towards an exit, she met Serina on the way. The older woman stared at her for a second and her eyes twitched. Serina gave a bow and walked past her. Mikan, in bewilderment, tried to erase the glares she received from her. "D… Did she found out about Ruka?" Red tints began to spread on her face. She cupped her cheeks and zoomed faster towards the door.

In the gardens, Mikan saw several people gathering in circle, talking about something. One of them was Tsubasa and Kaname. The rest of them were unknown to her. Bewildered with this meet-up, she tried to get attention from Tsubasa by waving at him. Lucky for her, the blonde, Kaname, noticed her and nudges Tsubasa by elbowing him. "Hey, Mikan-hime's calling you."

"Huh?" Tsubasa was interrupted by his best friend's sentence and looked at the direction where she was tired waving at him. He smirked and said to him, "Kana-kun, come with me." Both of them stood up and excused themselves for a while. "Yo, Mi-chan!"

"At last! Hey, hey…" She nudges him. "What's up with this gathering? Something big coming up soon?"

Kaname chuckled, while Tsubasa smiled, "If you consider talking about politics is something big…"

Mikan sweat dropped. "P-politics…? Yuck, I don't even switch on the 8 pm television news…"

Kaname said, "Tsubasa's father and my mother's a politician… So, they kind of handed us some duties on our hands. We're here today to discuss things with them…" He said while pointing to the nerdy-looking men.

"That must've been really boring…" Mikan commented.

"We heard that you and Natsume's here too, so, we thought we could meet up somewhere. It looks like you found us first."

Mikan frowned, "He's up to do something complicated… I'm stuck here… There's nothing to do besides waiting for him…"

"Since you're here, there's a good chance for you to meet Hotaru's elder brother, Subaru Imai." Kaname tells her. "He works as the Deputy Minister of Defence—"

Mikan raised her voice, "H-Hotaru's brother?!"

Tsubasa backed away from her, while rubbing his ears. 'Yeah… Subaru Imai, he's like… 24 years old? Both of them have 8 years gap… Don't tell me you didn't know that she has a brother?"

"Nu'uh! She didn't even tell me where she lived!"

A deep melancholy voice called out from their back. "Ando, Sono, have you finished the work that your parents gave you?"

Both Tsubasa and Kaname swivelled their head at the back and found a young man, with glasses, kind of a gentleman type, about 185 centimetres tall, wearing blue-black coat standing behind them. "I-Imai!"

Mikan moved her eyes from Tsubasa's stoned figure and stared at Subaru, who was looking at her as well. "So, is he Hotaru's elder brother?"

Before Kaname could reply her question, Subaru interferes. "Just… go back in the discussion group, Sono, Ando. I'll take it from here." Tsubasa and his best friend retreated to the circle, leaving Mikan with Hotaru's cold-looking elder brother. As he advanced forward, he said, "What's a princess of the nation doing here alone without a bodyguard?"

"N-nothing in particular! I needed some peace of mind, that's all!!" Mikan was scared because he looked so stern and strict.

All of a sudden, he drew rare smile. "I heard Hotaru's best friend is you, your Highness, is that true?"

She blinked for a second and nodded. _He cared about Hotaru's personal business… "_Em, yeah. My best friend in the whole world! But… for the past 4 years that I've known her…" Mikan paused for a second.

"Hotaru didn't mention about me at all, isn't it?" Subaru said calmly, making Mikan looking awe-struck. "It's… normal ever since we knew that we have different fathers."

She wanted to utter something but words did not come out. _D-different fathers? I-is that why she didn't tell me about her life at all?_

"Never mind that…" Subaru changed the subject. "My little sister along with the Royal Students Meeting are preparing for Prince Natsume's birthday party. It would be filled with VIP guests. Have you decided a suitable present for your husband?"

"E… W-well, I'm not sure myself on which present I should give out…" Mikan was walking along the park with Subaru and some bodyguards he called for.

"Oh… take a note. Prince Natsume likes presents which are handcrafted. I was assigned to be his babysitter when I was your age. He tends to adore and cherish it, especially if it comes from someone he loves." Subaru commented.

"Oh… but… I'm not someone whom he loves, anyway… By any chance, have you any idea why he hated his birthday?" Mikan asked.

Subaru stopped walking and stared at her for a minute. He heaved a sigh and said, "It's disrespectful for me to tell his secret but… I think he would tell you if you could hand in a good present. I'll have to go now, since Prince Natsume's already here…" He darted his eyes to the front, seeing Natsume with some important people surrounding him, coming towards them. Subaru left at the opposite direction from where Natsume's coming in.

Mikan nodded and watched him as he leaves. Natsume spotted his wife standing in front of him and said, "Hey, you." He said in a low tone. "Where were you? I told you to wait for me in the Hall Section 12…"

"Since when??" Mikan asked naively.

He brought up his right palm to his forehead and sighed. "Come on… Let's go." He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the building.

From afar, Kaname snickered with Tsubasa. "Jeez, now he's really acting like her husband…"

"See? I told you he has changed for good." Tsubasa complimented.

"I can't wait for the prep to be finished by this week. I can't wait for his birthday. It'll be a blast."


	18. Chapter 16

Yuki: Huh!!! At last! I've written something! ; I hope you'll be satisfied with this chapter. Don't worry, I won't make a Mikan and Ruka fic, no way. I feel so bad about my another fic… I have no idea on how to continue… The brain's quite blank, lately. My English's getting all rusty, cause the frequency of using my national language is far greater than English, so, I hope you guys wouldn't mind reading my 'unexpressed-fully-storyline'… How long was it since I've written? Yeah, 6 months… Gloomy mood surrounds Anyway, please enjoy. R&R please, thanks! By the way, I was having flu while typing this, so… please forgive my typing or grammar mistakes. I couldn't bear checking it back…

**Chapter 15: Momentary Disappearance.**

As busy as a worker bee, Mikan was straining her head on what present she should give for Natsume. Subaru's words were repeating in her brain, countless. She was walking to and fro, at the main hall of the palace, where the maids are cleaning the floors and putting on some decorations for his birthday. Maika, one of her trusted maids saw her stressed out face, because Natsume's birthday is another 5 days. Her maid understood Mikan's feelings and came up to her.

"Mikan-sama…" Maika called from her back. The auburn teenager jumped forward and turned back. "My apologies for startling…."

"M-Maika… You scared me… Huh… It's all right. Need something?" She asked politely. Her maid smiled and shook her head. "Eh, then what is it?"

Maika drew a long smile and asked, "Is Mikan-hime thinking of what present to give to Natsume-sama?"

She blushed red and denied, "N-no, I'm not. It's easy what he wants… I don't want to waste my brain thinking of one!"

"Aww… come on, Mikan-hime… You're so obvious!" Maika exclaimed. Her blushes were getting redder. "Let us help you, all right? We've been his servant for years for nothing, if this kind of matter disturbs the princess's concentration."

Mikan lowered her head and nodded. The other servants gathered around her and whispered.

Natsume, on the other hand was surveying the hall with several assistants, until he saw Mikan, who was talking to the servants, with a problematic face. He called to her, "Hey, ugly."

She winced when she heard that and shouted back while turning her head, "Hey, I'm not ugly!!!" When she realised that it was Natsume, she blushed redder.

He realised this and frowned, "Huh? Shouting at me and then blushing… What's wrong with you?"

She turned back to her maids and looked at them warily. Her maids thought of something and Maika stood in front while bowing to him. "I'm sorry, Natsume-sama. Mikan-hime has been unwell since this morning. We have tried to confine her in her room, but she didn't listen to us. We are sorry. Please, let us take care of her for 4 undisturbed days. She'll be well until Your Highness's birthday." Mikan's eyes widened and smartly, coughed artificially, enough to make Natsume looked worried and took a step forward. "She must be refrained, sir. If you'll excuse us…" All the maids pretended to look worried and accompanied her to her quarters.

"Is she… sick?" he said aloud. "She was fine yesterday… I wonder if she's coming down to a cold… it's November, after all." His assistants snickered silently, to see the cold-blooded prince to be so worried.

At her room, all the 5 maids giggled silently and Maika said, "Good, Mikan-hime. Let him be worried for a while. A complete 4 days would be enough to finish your present, my Highness."

"Ah! That's smart of you, Maika! I hope everybody co-operates with me in this project!" All of them cheered.

X

Natsume, with his annoyed face, stood in front of Maika, who was blocking his way to see his wife, was losing his patience. "Look, I don't want to be harsh, but the Royal couple must eat dinner together, no matter what."

"I'm sorry, Natsume-sama. Her disease is infectious. Anybody would ask Your Highness to refrain from seeing her. I hope at least Natsume-sama would understand."

He placed his hand over his temples. "Look…" Actually, he was worried about her, he could not bring himself to say it in front of her wife's maid. "It has been 2 days. She did not come out from her room. Without fresh air, she would, of course, be unhealthy."

Maika bowed deeper and apologized. "I'm deeply sorry for this. I have to get back to her side with her medicine." She turned her back to him and walked away.

He sighed deeply and faced back too. Not only dinner, but breakfast, high-tea, and even lunch! She was absent. He have not caught a glimpse of her within this couple of days. Even though it has been only 2 days, her annoying smile and voice was missing in his life. He had to admit, that he was actually missing her.

From the Princess's room, Maika winked at Mikan. "He missed you, Your Highness. It was very obvious!"

"Well, maybe he missed his 'toy', not his wife." She muttered while pasting the coloured beads on a frame. "Juri, pass me those seashells, please?"

Maika said this smartly, "If he was to see his toy, he wouldn't be 'that' persistent to see his 'toy'. His face was more towards the worrying side." When she finished talking, Mikan paused from pasting the seashells she received earlier.

She was blushing and in her heart, she kind of missed Natsume's outspoken words and his hands. His face… his back, his voice… "Ahem, Maika? Let us continue our work…"

Her maids only smiled at Mikan.

X

The third day, Natsume was staring on his chicken cream soup, slowly losing appetite. He even hallucinated on the soup, of her smile. He drew a smile and continued eating. His maids was worried about his condition. Who would've known that he would be like that without Mikan for a mere 3 days?

Even the King and Queen heard about this matter at hand. They tried to hold themselves from laughing but couldn't. To think that their heartless child would turn to be like this with the absence of Mikan.

Not only Natsume, but Mikan was slowing her pace in completing the present. She smiled to herself when she imagined the way Natsume reacted when he tasted nattou beans for the first time. Her giggles are getting louder and her maids are worried too.

X

Finally, the fourth day, Natsume woke up early in the morning and ran towards her quarters after taking bath. His hair is still damp, taking no importance in hair drying it. He saw the 5 maids coming out from the door, and saw his wife saying something to the maids that made them laugh.

His heart lightened up when she saw her smiling, not to him, but the maids. When they walked out from his view, he saw her looking at him surprisingly. She smiled sweetly and took small steps approaching him, but stopped when he marched towards her, with a furious face.

She retreated and closed her eyes, thinking that he might be angry enough to land a punch on her face. When she felt his arms wrapping around her shoulders, she blinked several times.

"Y-you idiot…" He said slowly, tightening his embrace. "What made you be so sick these days?"

"I-influenza…" She managed to say, despite his tight hug. Mikan rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arms behind his back. "I'm sorry."

"Hate to say this, but…" He moved his hand from the shoulder to her hair, brushing it slowly and closed his eyes, "I've missed you."

"Me too…" Mikan smiled, hearing his fast pace of heartbeat.

From a corner, the maids are blushing and giggling. "Wow… he's really in love with our Mikan-hime!" Juri exclaimed.

"He didn't need to be that stubborn… Just say that he missed her, then we would have let him meet her…" Maika commented out.

After a minute of hugging, Mikan spoke, "N-Natsume… I can't breathe…"

He stopped dreaming away and released her. "S-sorry!! I… I'm sorry."

She paused to see his face properly. _He's different… And he lose weight… Natsume… he looked like a lost boy._ "Natsu-chan? Let's eat breakfast, okay?"

"H-huh?" His face brightened and grabbed her hand. "Let's go!" Natsume had to admit, she's very important to his life. He would not want to lose her, obviously.

While rushing themselves to the quarters, she asked, "Natsume, have you been eating well? You kind of looked… unhealthy… Tomorrow's your birthday."

"I'll be all right as long as you're here." He replied with a wry smile. To her observation, his eyes are slightly encircled with dark rings and cheeks hollow, making his face thinner. Mikan brought a halt to their walk and stared at him, worriedly. "Huh, what's up?"

Her eyes started to line in tears. He panicked. Then, her soft sobs are heard. "If… if I hadn't lied to you about m-my sickness, I'm sure you wouldn't have to be like this…" She shut her eyes tight.

"Huh…?"

"I was preparing your p-present for your birthday with the maids… We need days of completion… but-" She felt his hands were placed on her cheeks, and his thumb, wiping away the teary beads.

"Dummy…" He mocked, making her looking shocked. "Hear that? Who asked you to make a present for me? Being always next to me is already enough. Just don't leave me like you did days ago, all right?" She nodded. "Good girl…" He smiled widely, making Mikan blushed for a bit. "Come, let's eat… I'm hungry…"

X

"Natsume!!" Mikan rushed herself in his room and tried to find him everywhere, until she heard the door of his bathroom opened. Luckily enough for him, he was wearing a bathrobe and a towel on his head. When his eyes set on her, she squeaked and took several steps away from him in a flash.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he sat on the couch, drying his hair. She's still standing facing the opposite direction of his view. Mikan looked pretty from the back, he thought. She was wearing a light peach gown, tying her sash loosely hung around her waistline and her side-braided hair with some modern-authentic Japanese accessories. He shook his head off that thought. "Are you a pervert? Sneaking up a guy who have finished bathing…"

"I-I'm not!" She said, stomping on her feet. "We're late! You're going to have another 30 minutes preparation! And here you are, drying your hair, oh-so-casually…!!"

He sputtered a laughter. She thought he was twisted, because there was no funny lines in her sentence earlier. "Jeez, you're nagging like a mother… Anyway… The schedule's starting at 2 pm… By any chance, did you hear that it's gonna start about now from Maika?"

"Uh… yes… Why?" She looked pretty much confused with the situation.

"She was given a late information about the new schedule, that's why." He stopped drying his hair, and he looked messy. Natsume stood up and headed to his dressing table and combed his hair.

"Oh… is that so?" Mikan pouted, as she thought that being so panicked just now meant nothing. "So, I'll just leave for now--"

"Wait here a sec." He said, as he approached behind her. "Just turn your face here, it's nothing." With hesitation, she slowly peered at her back and saw him in bathrobe.

"Are you nuts!? You're still unchanged!"

"You thought I'm not wearing anything beneath these?? Hey, get your brain fixed, I'm wearing a T-shirt and shorts. I'm only wearing this to keep me warm!"

She paused and raised her voice, "Why didn't you say so earlier?!!" Mikan turned her head and sat on a couch.

"Well, seeing you so red, makes it funny to watch." He simply said that and sat adjacent to her. "We still have many time left… Approximately…" He took a glimpse on the clock. "5 hours."

"I have to change my clothes… I wore this too early." She complained about the drapes along her waistline.

He eyed her for a second and offered, "Mind wearing mine?"

"W-what??"

"Wait here just a second…" He squinted his eyes on Mikan and nodded. He rummaged through his wardrobe and picked on a black T-shirt and shorts. "Mind wearing these for a meantime?"

She sweat dropped, "I don't mind, but would the maids…"

"Don't worry… They'll allow it, since it was me choosing these for you. Hurry up, get it on." Mikan stood up and took the clothes from him. She entered the changing clothes section. While waiting for her, he opened his robe and reveals his sleeveless tank top and khaki shorts. While looking at his apparels in the wardrobe, Mikan came out, wearing loosely hung clothes.

"Ah, much comfortable…" She expressed in pleasure. " Natsume, I'll leave my clothes here first, okay?"

"Do as you wish…" He said with a shrug. "Want a drink?"

"Green tea, please…" She raised her hand and hummed a melody while walking in to the living room and switched on the plasma television. Natsume headed to the mini kitchen and fetched her drinks. "Hey, how come your room's spacious compared to mine? Not fair… And you have plasma television…"

"You'll get one after you've completed your new princess's duty." He sat across her and placed her green tea on the coffee table. "…….." He muted while watching the television.

Mikan peered from the corner of her eye and said, "Don't be so stoic, say something."

"Say what?"

"About anything? Like this television programme, or a topic… This is what we call family gathering, at my place."

"We haven't even started a family yet." He said, snickering.

Her face flushed red and retaliated, "I… didn't meant it that way!! What you need is conversation. It helps to relax your mind." She grabbed her drink and sipped on it.

He only stared at her face. "All right, if that's what you want… What happened between you and Ruka?"

She choked on her tea and coughed loudly, enough to make him suspicious. "T-there's n-nothing!!"

"Hm… you're stammering, choking on your tea and your face is red. How can I ignore this?" Natsume raised his voice all of a sudden. _I knew he has confessed to you, but I want you to admit it._

She hates him for asking this question. She didn't even ask him about Sumire. "Why should I tell you, a mere problem between me and Ruka, when you didn't even explain your scandal with Sumire in the first place? As a matter of fact, she was your first love, wasn't it? And now, you're hanging around with her, creating problems for me. How could I cope up with you like this when you're being so naggy about your own cousin?!" She stood up abruptly and stormed to get her gown.

"Wait…" He clutched her thin arm and held her from walking. "If you want to know about what happened between Sumire and I, I would gladly explain."

_No… no, I don't want to hear! I want to live a life till we get divorced. I don't want to hear a thing!! _

_She resisted his grip, but he is way stronger, until she let several drops of tears flowing on her porcelain-like cheeks. The way she looked at him with those honest eyes made him to let her off, and allowing her to get out of his quarters._

He set his amber eyes upon the ceiling and slumped into his couch. With both of his arms on his temple, he sighed deeply."What's wrong with her… If she wants to know, just listen! She…" His voice trailed off when he flash backed the moment when he saw her tears"… She didn't need to cry…"

Mikan regretted her actions, but his way of asking things were out of control. And so, the 5 hours has passed by, and Natsume's birthday party has begun…

X

Yuki: Ehehe, this's starting to get better and better, I promise you. By the way… I'm thinking of placing some Ruka and Hotaru's moments in the next chapter, what do you think? Might be a 60 Ruka-Hotaru and 40 Natsume-Mikan. I have just realised that I haven't paired those two yet, ehehehe…


	19. Chapter 17

_Yuki: Shit hell... This is the longest hiatus... Man, I'm soooo sorry about the late update!! TT_TT Things are harsh in my university!! So, this is the pieces of truth behind Natsume's scandal. An important plot!!! Btw, this chapter consists less description, 'cause I was in a hurry!! Please read and review!!_

**Chapter 15: The Truth Behind The Scandal.**

The image still burned in his mind, where he deliberately made her angry for bringing up the undesired topic. He was thinking on how to make her mood slightly better compared to last time. Now, walking to and fro, in front of the Princess's quarters, the maids from inside was laughing and giggling.

Maika drew a smile and assisted with Mikan's hair. "Mikan-sama, it seems that he is being restless again." She bent down to pick on a small pin to place it on the small pearl crown which fits nicely as a hair ornament.

Mikan frowned a bit and bit her lips, "I knew I'm inconsiderate, but he's worse than me!! He gets exceptionally 'responsive' about Sumire."

Her maids only shrugged, but Maika simply said, "It's already good enough that Mikan-sama has successfully occupied his Honour's mind as much as possible to divert his attention from his party now."

The brunette frowned again, "What do you mean by that?"

The maids hushed Maika, for accidentally saying that aloud, Maika apologized, "I'm s-sorry! Please forget about it, Mikan-sama!!"

Mikan got more curious and forced them to speak to know more about Natsume. The maids were looking at each other while gulping, because they are about to reveal a part of his past.

About 5 minutes later, Natsume stopped walking back and forth, when the door was opened. He saw her in the same peach coloured dress and a new hair piece. She simply looked sweet and innocent. But when Mikan saw him, her heart felt wrenched after hearing what the maids say. She told to herself to keep composed and steady, however, the reality is hard. _I can't believe it, I can't even look at him in the eye!_

Natsume noticed something was off, he sighed and muttered to himself, _Please help me… Shin._ He grabbed her hand and kissed it, while asking, "Are you okay, milady?" He gaped lovingly to her.

She immediately released her hands while blushing. "J-j-just what were you thinking, doing things like that?!! And... m-m-milady?!!" She said while trying to control her flaming cheeks. _For a second there, I thought he looked like a real prince!_

Natsume grinned mischievously, "Any prince in the world would do that, if he saw his gorgeous bride... looking so innocent and demure..." He ended his sentence with a wink to her, and walked ahead of her towards the limousine.

Mikan stood there, flushing red, dumbfounded and her mouth hanging open. _W-w-w-who is HE?!!! What happened to Natsume?!!_

Seeing Mikan in that state almost made him burst, he turned and called out, "Dearest, hurry along... We'll be late." She hurriedly stormed inside the limousine. "Stunned, perhaps, dear?"

She gaped at him, and blinked many times while concentrated at his figure from head to toe. "J-j-just what did you do to Natsume?!!"

"He told me to switch places. Oh, by the way…. It seems that you already knew about Natsume's past, isn't it dear? I'm his alter ego, Shin Hyuuga, his cousin." He smiled so sweetly, and it seems that she was, indeed, for a second, love stricken.

"B-but… w-why is your soul stuck inside him?! Usually ghosts who have attachment to this world would just linger around, not being stuck in a body with two souls!"

He rested his chin on his palm while looking intently at her. "Well… he really loves his best friend, you see. So… I didn't manage to reach up in the heavens." She looked sad for him and he realised it. "Nah, I didn't mind about the heavens and, I'm sorry again, but it happened to be that Sumire's my ex-girlfriend." He paused to see her alarmed face. "Don't put on that face, dear. She could see me in him, so she was so attached to me."

"Wait…" She held her breath and exhaled. "You passed away when you were 8… and she was your girlfriend since then?!" He nodded in agreement. "Then why did you break up with her?"

"'Cause I realised I loved Natsume better." That comment made her blush red and her head hung down in embarrassment. "I'm just kidding, dear. I don't swing that way… I realised I've got pneumonia when I was 12 and purposely broke up with her, without letting her know about my disease."

_Mikan remembered her conversation with the maids about Shin Hyuuga, his cousin as well as a best friend. He passed away while celebrating Natsume's birthday in a party. It seems that he loved him so much, until he, all of a sudden, acted and sounded like Shin the next day he passed away. They said, Natsume's got split personality oh Shin whenever he wanted to but did not appear for 2 years since._

She rested on a head rest and massaged her temple. "So? Why did you appear before me after not appearing for 2 years? Is there anything worrying Natsume? Can he hear our conversation?"

"Well, no. He can't, but I can. He called me because he was worried about you. He'll call me when things get difficult." He glanced to the window. "He said to me, that he was scared if you might end up hating him, so by calling me out, he expected me to console you, since I'm the gentleman type."

Mikan shook her head and said, "I started it… You've seen through me, right? The part about Ruka?" He nodded abruptly. "I couldn't bring myself to confess about my awkward situation because I already knew his relationship with Ruka is rocky enough and I don't want to give any hardships to him." She mumbled, "If he's so worried about me, don't just switch bodies because I want to confront him myself and solve problems with him. Things would turn smoothly if he does that."

"Mikan… It seems that you've started to love 'me'." He referred 'me' to Natsume himself.

"W-what do you mean?! I-I liked Natsume as a friend…!" She became flabbergasted with the sudden comment coming from Shin, but from Natsume's lips.

"I love you, Mikan…" He looked serious and looking intently at her. "I could not afford to lose you." He grabbed her hand and said, "Only look at me."

"S-Shin!! Stop this instant! I don't want to hear this—" She was interrupted by a sentence coming from him.

"I'm not Shin. I've already switched with him just now."

"…"

Yuki: Hehehehe…. Please await the next chappie. =_= This is not beta-ed so, please excuse my grammar…. _ And, I'm sorry about not posting this chapter for almost a year!!


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